Acid
by RGW
Summary: Irina is caught stealing a pokeball from Professor Elm's lab and has none other than Gary Oak chasing her trying to retrieve it. Is Irina trying to pursue a life of crime or does she have other other intentions in mind? Rated T just in case!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1- The Crime**

* * *

I was crouched down like a Growlithe ready to pounce on its prey. I licked my chapped lips and gripped the ground steadily. Professor Elm was getting ready to leave his lab for his midnight stroll. I had prepared for days to be in this position (this hour of glory) that was right before my eyes. I flinched for a moment when I felt something oozing on my leg. I peered down to find a Weedle crawling up my brown-laced boot. I froze at this unanticipated situation. _Irina calm down! Think carefully! Should I kick it? Wait, no! It'll string me! I cannot let this big chance be ruined by a Bug Pokemon!_ I ignored the Weedle and returned my gaze to Professor Elm's movements through the window attached to the top of the backdoor.

Impatiently, I began toying with my hair by fixing up the top pigtails and smoothing out the leftover straight hair I had purposely left out. A smile fell to my lips as I knew everything was falling into my hands perfectly. The Houndours that were guarding the door were fast asleep, the bushes were grown full enough to hide the whole length of my body, and Professor Elm had made the crucial mistake of leaving the back door unlocked. This was my hour in heaven and the only thing that seemed to be ruining it was this Weedle crawling up my arm.

Professor Elm yawned as he turned the key to lock the front door. After hearing a decisive click, he walked off casually with his hands in his lab coat pockets. I counted the seconds backwards as if a bomb might explode at any moment. _Five._ I stood up carefully, making sure not to make any sudden sounds that might wake the Houndours and cause Weedle to sting me. _Four. _I inched closer then carefully jumped over the back fence making sure to fix my violet, black, and white striped plaid skirt and my violet button up short sleeve shirt. _Three. _I walked carefully towards the back door feeling triumph with each leisurely step I took as the Houndours began to snore. _Two._ I turned the knob on the backdoor carefully and left the door open as I walked inside. _One. _I froze in my tracks.

A boy was sleeping on the couch peacefully. I criticized myself harshly for missing this important detail. The boy was sleeping right beside the starter pokemon containment machine which meant a doubly negative situation in my head. I glared at every aspect of the mystery boy from his spiky brown hair to his pale skin and his peaceful expression as I stood there in agony. _How am I going to open the machine without waking him? Who is he and how had I not noticed him enter the lab? _

Suddenly the machine activated on its own, revealing three poke balls resting in their own sockets. I felt my heart race as I spotted that same irritating Weedle crawling around all the buttons on the machine. The boy instantly awoke due to the racket and began yelling in frustration. Without even pausing to think, I grabbed Weedle in one arm and a poke ball from the machine with my free hand. I immediately took off running out the backdoor. The boy was shouting commands for me to stop as he took off after me. Weedle squirmed in my arms as I gripped its tiny body tighter as I increased my running pace. I felt a little relief as I ran into the woods. _I could lose that irritating brat here._ My thoughts turned fearfully horrified as I heard the boy yell out for his pokemon.

"Gengar! Help me catch that thief!" I heard the boy order with a familiar sound of a pokemon being summoned.

"He has pokemon!" I spoke to myself out of horror, hardly believing the words.

I quickly paused my movements and hid behind an evergreen tree. I took Weedle and the stolen poke ball and stuffed them both inside my Pikachu bag.

"Please, Weedle don't make a sound," I whispered to it.

As if understanding my situation, Weedle looked up at me wide-eyed with worry. A state of fear came over me when I peeked to find Gengar and the boy getting closer to my location. I spied to find the boy call out another pokemon.

"Pidgeot! Tell Professor Elm there was a break-in at the lab! Tell him Gary sent you!" he commanded.

The beautiful bird pokemon soared out its wings and took flight. It was then I realized that I could not stay hidden for long. Gary, or whoever he was, was obviously an experienced Pokemon Trainer and I, who had no pokemon whatsoever, had no chance of beating him. I unzipped my bag and began to speak to Weedle.

"Weedle, I need you to do me a favor," I spoke in a hushed voice. "I need you to watch over my bag for me. I'll come back and get you guys."

Weedle began shaking its head in protest, but it was already too late. Gengar appeared right beside me and I could feel my heartbeat raging throughout my body. I took off running as I discreetly threw my bag into the bushes. With one quick deep breath, I dived into the raging river waters. My whole body shivered from the impact and its cold temperature. I was racing to swim up to the surface before my body gave out and I drowned. The currents were too strong; the raging waters kept knocking my body around like it was a bowling ball aiming to hit invisible pins. Being only eleven years old, I was no match for these rough currents. Within a few minutes of being in these waters, I fell out cold and all I could remember was pitch blackness.

* * *

**Small Tidbits for the Whole Acid Story  
**

_Made by_: RGW

_Editor_: DarkPsychoRaven

_Source_: Bulbapedia, Pokemon Episodes, Pokemon HeartGold


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Family**

* * *

I felt an odd sensation trickle all over my body as if a soft wave reawakened me. Slowly, sounds began to come alive around me along with the feeling in my hands and legs. Once I felt that I was fully conscious, a swift burst of panic erupted in me and I sat up instantly while grabbing my throat. A coughing fit was there to greet me along with the realization that I was no longer drowning in the water.

"Weedle," A familiar voice broke the silence beside me.

I screamed as my body shot into a sitting position. I had forgotten what my situation was and why I was in this dreadful forest to begin with. Then slowly, a familiar voice broke through my doubts and fears like a poison sting flying through the air at high speeds.

A voice began to echo in my head…_Irina_…It brought back the moment _she_ was taken from me.

The blur of everything in my mind, the slow echoes and quickly shattered darkness, all began to recede. I sighed as everything began to clear itself in my mind. My recollection of who this Weedle was had quickly processed in my mind and I responded to him with a quiet mutter and an apology at him for seeming so frightened earlier.

"Did you save me, Weedle?" I asked while trying to regain my composure.

Weedle simply shook its head and gestured to its family of Beedrills, Kakunas, and other pokemon of the same species as itself as they were flying, popping, and even crawling out of the bushes and trees. Almost systematically, they decided to surround me in what almost felt to me like a protective layer of comfort. It was the first time in a while that I felt the atmosphere of what a family was like and this impact made my mood rise a little bit.

"Weedle," I smiled at him and asked, "Did your family save me?"

Weedle bobbed its tiny head in a yes. He caught my attention by moving towards the bushes, it then used its String Shot to wrap something in the bushes and tug it out. When I crawled closer to Weedle to find out what he was doing, I saw my backpack on the ground before me. Immediately, I opened my bag and grabbed the pokeball that I had stolen earlier. With a silent prayer that there would be something inside it, I stood up and prepared myself to call the pokemon out.

"Now to see what pokemon I stole," I sighed as I commanded the pokemon to come out.

All the buzzing noises ceased and the forest seemed to fall deathly silent at the response of what was on the ground in front of us. My eyes were open as wide as I could ever make them as I slowly began rubbing them repeatedly in order to make sure that what was happening was real and not some kind of sick joke. A Magikarp was flapping its body wildly in front of us. I buried my face in my hands while uttering an "oh no". _Out of all the bad things to happen._ Weedle began rubbing itself beside my leg almost seeming to feel my pain. Every pokemon and the many trainers in the world knew that Magikarp was the weakest pokemon imaginable.

"I guess I should return it," I rubbed my forehead while trying to analyze the situation.

Magikarp kept flapping around until it managed to flop its big red-orange body onto my lap. It settled down in that very same place and I sighed. _I can't return this pokemon back to Professor Elm's lab. _There wasn't any starter trainer dumb enough to claim this pokemon to begin their journey with.

"Well," I sighed. "Magikarp, I'm your new trainer now."

"Karp," It responded cheerfully.

Weedle rubbed my leg and looked up at me. I stared down at him and began shaking my head.

"No, Weedle," I replied. "You can't come with me. Look at your family."

Weedle looked at me determinedly and I almost saw a piece of myself within those huge bulbous black eyes. I stood up while motioning to get out an empty pokeball. I could feel as if this was a time to put on battle music as Weedle and I stood still just staring at each other. Weedle wasn't going to let me capture it easily. _Well, here goes!_

"Magikarp!" I commanded. "Splash!"

Magikarp was already doing its "signature move" in front of our opponent even before I mentioned the command. _How am I supposed to capture Weedle if all Magikarp does is flap around? _Then the unexpected happened. Weedle noticed how stressed I was becoming and began to roll its yellow body around while bursting out in laughter. I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins. I was hoping that I had a chance to capture Weedle after all.

"Now tackle!" I yelled out.

Weedle stopped laughing and attempted to dodge the Tackle, however, it was too late. Magikarp's big red-orange body slammed into poor Weedle with the result of leaving him disoriented. I threw the pokeball at Weedle, watching anxiously as the pokeball began bobbing left to right with the middle button blinking red. Finally after a few moments, the pokeball ceased its movements and made a sound confirming that Weedle had been caught. I returned Magikarp back to its pokeball and quickly placed it back in my bag. I called out Weedle.

All of Weedle's family members were dancing around in excitement to see that their young Weedle finally had a trainer. I knew, however, that what I was going to say next was going to ruin this happy moment.

"Weedle," I spoke slowly, unable to control the race of my heartbeat as I uttered this sentence. "I need you to help me get into Team Rocket."

A familiar silence fell again and Weedle looked up at me in confusion.

"I stole that pokeball because I was going to use it to help me join Team Rocket," I explained.

Weedle stared up at me astonished, unable to believe the words that were coming from my mouth. In the end, I couldn't believe those very same words came from my mouth either.

"I'm not doing this for my own benefit," I began, almost feeling the desperation in my own voice. "Please believe me, Weedle. I just can't explain it to you right now."

The memory of what had happened a few days ago flashed in my head and in response I flung my arms around me while staring at the ground, "It's just that I don't know exactly how to explain it to you without you hating me."

I felt tears trying to fall down my face, but I held them back. In an effort to comfort me, Weedle slowly crawled up my body until it rested itself on my left shoulder. It slowly wiped one of the rogue tears from my face and, with a frown on its face, nodded in understanding.

"Thank you, Weedle," I wiped my face and regained my composure.

I sighed in relief that he accepted me and I began thanking all of Weedle's family members as we starting off out of the forest.

"We're heading to Cherrygrove City," I said to Weedle as I avoided shrubs and went between trees. "I have a meeting with Team Rocket."

Weedle hopped off my shoulder and began leading me the rest of the way out of the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Shocking Assignment**

* * *

The wind rushed through my hair as we got our first glance of the clearing at the edge of the forest. Weedle immediately crawled up to my shoulder in order to give itself a rest. I smiled at him as he snuggled himself in a comfortable position to take a quick nap. It was then that I realized how deep in trouble we were at that very moment. _What am I going to tell my recruiter? I can't possibly get into Team Rocket without a stolen pokeball! _I felt like a Jigglypuff stuck in a slim hole. I gripped my hands together and began marching forward towards the clear dirt road ahead. _I'll wing it! I need to get through this! _As I continued adventuring down towards Cherrygrove City, I began imagining schemes of how I would attempt to fool Team Rocket into taking an empty pokeball. Along the path I felt my stomach growl out of hunger; I paused to open up my backpack in order to grab some Oran berries to munch on. _Crap. _The bag was not only soggy inside, but the food was gone. All that remained in the bag was a weird costume, pokeballs, and my wallet. _Aw, well. I'll just buy some food using my money. _When I opened my wallet, I felt a rock plummet down on my head as I saw how empty my wallet was. _All I have is my Trainer's Card? Seriously? _I quickly zipped up my bag while accidentally smacking Weedle with my elbow as I tried to slide the straps over my arms. He poked my arm in annoyance with his bulb-shaped head.

"I'm sorry," I replied instantly. "I didn't mean too. I just forgot you were there for a second!"

As I continued walking down the trail, I was lost in thought while trying to come up with a variety of ideas and events of how I was going to support us. _I don't have money on me anymore._ I assumed that the river had washed away all the valuables from my pocket and backpack. _We're going to starve if I don't figure out how to get some money. _

Weedle rubbed my cheek to regain my attention and I noticed that we had actually walked into Cherrygrove City. The neighborhood was very small, almost too small to be called a city. Houses were lined up against the edges of the town and were about as many as the fingers attached to my hands. The only main attractions in this town seemed to be the Guide House, the Pokemon Center, and the small Pokemon Mart that were all conveniently located in the center of the town. As I walked towards the center of town, I tried to recall where I was supposed to meet up with Team Rocket. _Alright, so, if I remember correctly, my recruiter said to come in here._ I paused in front of the Guide house and instantly recalled Weedle to his pokeball. I was taking precautions against Team Rocket at this point and time. I loved Weedle and I didn't want them doing anything to harm him. _I'm in this mess, not Weedle. I gotta be careful!_

I entered the well-built house and witnessed an old man sitting in the center of the living room. He smiled up at me and it almost seemed to make his wrinkled face grow brighter. I nodded to him in greeting then spoke the secret password. He motioned towards the bookcase behind him and I quickly walked up to it. The bookcase moved automatically, revealing a metal staircase and a brightly lighted facility down below. _This is a weird place to have a secret hide out. _I noticed the bookcase close behind me as I started walking down the metal steps. My actions seemed to echo throughout the area making me feel the emptiness. _It's almost as empty as the hearts of the people who run it. _My recruiter recognized me as he peeped his head in the hallway to check who had entered the secret basement. He was one of the normal low level grunts based on his black shirt and loose pants with the bold uppercase letter R in a bloodstained red on his t-shirt. In this world, that was how you identified which members were your superiors and which were normal pushovers.

"Do you have the pokemon?" He asked while holding out his hand.

"Yes," I lied while pulling out a random pokeball from my bag.

"We'll let's see it," He folded his arms impatiently.

My eyes widened and I stood there frozen. I had hoped that he would just automatically believe me and take the darn ball from my hands without a word. _He wants to SEE it?_ I felt the blood leave my veins as I stared up at him in complete shock and fear.

"It's in there though," I argued, suppressing myself from pleading with him. "You don't believe me?"

"Rules are rules," He rolled his eyes as if he had dealt with these types of confrontations a number of times.

I was hesitating and I could feel the situation constantly getting worse by the second. _I have to improvise! _I noticed a sound coming from my backpack and felt small movements as if one of my pokemon was looking through my stuff. _Oh, Magikarp! Weedle! Now is not the time to come out of your Pokeballs!_ The guard had lost all thoughts of waiting for me to make up my mind and just immediately snatched the ball from my hands and threw it to the ground. Within a few seconds, I flung my arms around the guard, my hands clasped behind him in a ferocious hug. I wanted anything, but for him to see the empty pokeball on the ground. I felt like throwing myself off a cliff at that moment. _No way could this grunt fall for this. _

"I demand you let me go this instant! I need to see the pokemon on the floor!" He yelled out as he tried to pry me off of him.

When I heard him say that an actual pokemon was on the floor, I held him tighter. _Crap! I must've summoned out Magikarp or Weedle by accident! _

After a few moments of trying to pull me off of him, the guard finally yelled out in full out anger at me. "Listen to me grunt! You will either release me this instant or I will call out the other members and have them not only pry you off, but ruin all your chances of joining Team Rocket!" He shouted out in disgust.

"No! Please don't take away my Weedle or Magikarp away from me!" I squealed while clinging to him and withholding the tears that wanted to spill out.

"What are you talking about?" He looked down at me confused. "There's a Cyndaquil on the floor."

_Huh? A Cyndaquil? _I released my grip on him while feeling frightened and confused all at the same time. I slowly turned around to feel the life leave my body. What had shocked me was that Weedle had somehow come out of my bag wearing that strange Cyndaquil costume. I stared at the grunt in disgust. _Was he stupid? _The grunt returned Weedle to its pokeball and returned it to me. He started guiding me to a room filled with uniforms.

"Welcome to Team Rocket," He replied. "Choose your uniform here and I'll give you your next assignment."

With shaky hands I grabbed a uniform off the metal shelves and felt relief as he left me in the room alone. I fell to my knees and quickly caught my breath, almost feeling like I held it in the entire time I saw Weedle in that ridiculous costume. I placed my hand on my chest to feel how fast my heart was racing. _I can't believe we made it through that. _When I felt calmed down I began to quickly dress myself in the white and red girl version of the Team Rocket uniform. It was a bit small for my taste. I took a step and felt the skirt rise up above more than my comfort level. I immediately pulled it down and cursed Team Rocket for having such skimpy uniforms. _How do they expect any reasonable girl to work in this thing? _I took the leggings I had worn earlier from my bag and placed them on angrily. _I am not going out there feeling like a walking Jinx! _When I walked outside, the grunt automatically approached me and handed me a vanilla envelope.

"Your assignment is in there," He relayed to me as he also dropped a small leather bag into my hands. "Here is your paycheck for the month."

I held the envelope tightly underneath my arm as I opened the bag to see that it was filled with money. _This could last way more than a month!_ I looked up at the grunt thankfully while almost motioning to hug him again. He had his arm out to deny me any step towards him.

"Don't you even dare think of hugging me again!" He snapped at me annoyed while shoving me up the stairs. "Now, hurry and finish your assignment."

I was shoved out of the Guide House before I could utter a single word of thanks. It took me awhile to realize who I was going to thank. _These people are monsters and I was going to thank them for giving me a bag of money? They could've stolen this money! I'm such an idiot! _My mood fell straight down into the depths of sadness as I began covering my uniform using my normal clothes. _I can't believe I joined up with these people. The people who hurt…_I had to push the memory away in order to keep my attention on the task at hand. _No, I have no time to think about that right now! _I slowly opened up the envelope and glanced at the paper inside. A picture caught my eye. I pushed my bangs out of my pink eyes and pulled out the picture to get a better look at it. I froze yet again as my eyes were almost glued wide open. I blinked a few times and wondered why this picture was giving me such a daring impact. _Do I know this person? _I calmed myself down as I tried to collect my thoughts about who this boy was. There were two trainers in the picture and their pose almost represented how close they were. Red ink was circled around the trainer on the left that had brown spiky hair. He had the biggest grin I've ever seen as he had his arm around another pokemon trainer with black messy hair and wearing a red baseball cap on his head. A smile grew on my lips as I gazed at this brown haired boy. Something about the presence of him made me feel somewhat relaxed. It was then that a memory flashed in my head of a boy from the previous town, the one I had escaped from earlier. Finally, it hit me who this pokemon trainer was. It was Gary!

"My assignment is Gary?" I yelled out in shock.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Gossip**

* * *

Out of nowhere, the Guide House exploded, leaving rubble and debris of ash and wood raining down from above. In order to get away from the wreckage falling from the sky, I ran into the Pokemon Center. A crowd gathered around the Guide House in order to figure out what was going on. As I sat on one of the many couches in the lobby and gazed out the window, I noticed Nurse Joy running outside with a handful of Chanseys pushing stretchers.

"What happened over there?" I asked to myself.

It was strange and had to be coincidental that it exploded right after I was shoved outside. The situation became clear as I saw Lance walk out of the Guide House. He had been playing the role as an undercover Team Rocket grunt and was removing his costume in front of Police Officer Jenny while explaining the situation. My eyes slowly widened as I finally understood the situation. Lance had found out about Team Rocket's underground facility. I continued to stare at him as he commanded police officers to charge inside in order to arrest the remaining grunts in the building. His striking red hair and brown eyes were in their usual determined position with his signature red cape gleaming in the sun. _He certainly hasn't changed a bit._ Lance took notice of me for a moment and I quickly turned around to avoid his gaze. _I can't have Lance figuring out I'm here._

The Pokemon Center was soon in chaos with Nurse Joy busy treating injured pokemon patients. Without her noticing, I helped myself to a Guest Cabin and began scanning a map that was posted of the Johto region. I traced my fingers along a path to figure out where a Pokemon Trainer like Gary would head to. My fingers drew to an abrupt stop at Violet City. _Sprout Tower and a Pokemon Gym! That has to be the perfect place for any trainer!_ I stuffed the envelope that I had searched through earlier inside my Pikachu bag and then lay on the nearest bed. I planned on leaving here first thing in the morning and ambushing Gary in Violet City. There was only one problem. _Would anything else happen to interrupt my plan?_

I laid on the bed fully wanting to rest, but the whole Center was filled with noises from the hospital equipment. I sighed and sat up, thinking of various things I needed to do. I called out Weedle and saw it was still in its Cyndaquil costume. I laughed as I helped him take it off.

"Where did you get that costume anyway?" I wondered while placing the costume in my bag.

Weedle nudged Magikarp's pokeball and I knew where he found it. I laughed some more while imagining him stealing one of Professor Elm's pokemon costumes from his lab.

"Weedle," I continued laughing. "I swear we're almost natural born villains."

I stopped laughing as I said the word "villains". I never dreamed of being in Team Rocket, and being in this situation. _I better hope my plan works out or all of this will be for nothing._ I sighed as I hugged Weedle.

"You okay?" I asked. "Are you feeling tired too?"

Weedle rubbed the side of my cheek, almost seeming to feel my worries. In the moment when I was hugging Weedle, I felt a sense of encouragement. _I have to make this plan work, because Weedle and Magikarp are with me._ I placed Weedle back in his pokeball and zipped up my bag. I laid back down and dozed off to sleep.

I woke up early that morning and found that Nurse Joy was staring down at me in shock. Stunned, I quickly sat upright and scooted towards the other side of my bed. _Why was she staring at me like that?_ I looked down to make sure my Team Rocket uniform wasn't showing. _It's not my uniform._

"Nurse Joy?" I asked almost scared of what she had found.

"You scared me to death," She sighed, relieved. "I didn't think anybody was in here."

She laughed and gave a little smile at me as she continued fixing the sheets of the bunk beds.

"Oh," I replied, feeling relieved myself. "I'm sorry."

She waved off my apology while saying, "Don't apologize. You're not in any trouble."

I began helping Nurse Joy with fixing the sheets on the rest of the bunk beds throughout the Center. As I helped her with the sheets, she began telling me various things. She told me that usually the Chanseys do certain chores around the Center, but since they are busy attending to the recent surge of injured pokemon, Nurse Joy filled in instead. What interested me most is what she told me about Gary. He was a Pokemon Trainer who had participated in the Kanto Pokemon League. He's the youngest grandson of Professor Oak from Pallet Town and his main rival was his childhood friend Ash Ketchum.

"How do you know that about Gary Oak?" I asked as I continued fixing the sheets.

"Oh, when you're in a small town like this," She pointed out, "there is nothing to really do but watch television or gossip."

She smiled up at me as I finished the last of the sheets.

"I see you're interested in Gary Oak," She giggled. "Did you know he passed by town in the late afternoon yesterday?"

My eyes burst open and I felt like a rock just hit me hard on the front of my head. I had planned on ambushing him in Violet City, but if he had passed the city then the plan would be ruined. I sighed, feeling frustrated. Nurse Joy looked confused as she saw how depressed I got.

"Are you a loyal fan?" She asked, sounding amused.

"No!" I yelled out without even thinking.

She looked at me in shock. I covered my mouth and felt I was glowing red from embarrassment. _Asking about Gary like this, who wouldn't think I was a fan girl?_ I quickly uttered an apology to Nurse Joy and began packing up my stuff.

"Do you have any pokemon?" She asked. "Why don't you let me look them over for a bit?"

I looked up at her and agreed that Weedle and Magikarp did need some checking up. I handed my two pokeballs over to her and watched as she cheerfully left to look them over. I decided that since they were getting checked up, that I would take a bath, grab something to eat, and ready the rest of my stuff. _Gary Oak, I won't let you get away from me. _I already began thinking up a brand new plan for when I reached Violet City.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - The Dark Cave**

* * *

I had finished packing up the last of the essentials that I needed in my bag. I bought some water, potions, pokeballs, pokemon food, and some real food to last for the road. My Pikachu bag felt heavier as I placed it back on my back. I liked the feeling of having it heavy with supplies, rather than feeling it empty with hardly anything in it. I went back to the Pokemon Center to check up on Nurse Joy and my pokemon. Nurse Joy handed me back my pokemon and said they were good to travel for the road.

"You're missing something," She blinked down at me as she examined me. "For a rookie pokemon trainer, this is a must."

She got out a red PokeGear and handed it to me. My eyes were about as wide as I could ever make them while I held the wondrous device in my palms. I stared up at Nurse Joy, about to question why would she give me something like this, but she waved me away.

"I'm personally more surprised you don't have one," She laughed. "What will you do when you get lost?" She started telling me about its basic features such as a virtual map, how to make calls, the radio, and the settings where I could adjust the volume of the high-tech cell phone. Tears welled up in my eyes as I hugged Nurse Joy and thanked her repeatedly for giving it to me. I wiped my eyes as I left Nurse Joy behind and started traveling on Route 30.

The Route seemed simple with the wide-open space and thick trees on the sides of the dirt road. I noticed some trainers walk beside me and spotted one of them showing off a Violet Gym Badge. I felt another rock hit me flat up against my head and continued walking while sighing in depression. _Please let there be some sort of detour to prevent Gary from getting there first._ I quickly got out my PokeGear and looked at the virtual map to see what was on Route 30. What caught my eye was the Dark Cave located only a few miles up ahead.

I felt my hopes rise again as I noticed that Gary had to cross through the Dark Cave in order to reach Violet City. I began walking at a faster pace, feeling almost like dancing and singing along the way until I got to the Dark Cave. I froze and felt like turning back to Cherrygrove City. The cave on the outside was creepy; it felt dark and haunted like a deserted mansion. _Come on Irina. It's just a cave. It isn't going to bite you._ I gulped as I walked through the entrance of the cave. The cave was only lit by the sunlight from the entrance so I had to get out a flashlight to light the rest of the way. As I continued walking deeper into the cave, I felt my surroundings grow darker.

After what seemed like an eternity, I paused to look at the PokeGear. I had gotten lost in the Dark Cave and was hoping it knew a way out of here. Not only did the PokeGear have no signal, but the virtual map didn't have anything useful for me to go on, not a single thing about getting out of the Dark Cave. I sighed and called out Weedle. Weedle immediately hopped onto my shoulder and looked at me, ready for my command.

"Do you know a way out of the Dark Cave?" I asked feeling my hope rise again.

When Weedle bobbed its head "no", I felt my hope plummet down just about as deep as the Dark Cave itself. Suddenly, I heard a weird noise coming from in front of me. The noise seemed to grow closer, and as it grew closer I could finally make out what the sound was.

"Is that something flapping?" I asked, hardly believing what I was hearing.

To Weedle and my shock, when I shined the flashlight up, we saw a colony of Zubats launching right at us. I took off running while holding Weedle in my arms tightly. The Zubats were screeching and chasing us and I had no idea why. Weedle and I began screaming as the Zubats seemed to be growing in numbers.

"What did we ever do to you?" I yelled out while running.

The Zubats seemed to grow angrier at my comment and flew at us even faster. I was now screaming and running as fast as my legs could make it possible. Suddenly, I felt the ground disappear from beneath my feet and I realized I had just ran off a ledge. As Weedle and I were about to fall down into the depths of the cave, Weedle swiftly used String Shot to cling to the walls and slowly I began to climb up the cliffside. The Zubats had lost us when we had taken our little detour into open air. As Weedle and I were sitting on the floor catching our breaths, I felt the rock behind me move. I slowly turned my head to spot a Geodude nudging me to move. I quickly moved and saw that Geodude was trying to dig someone out from a pile of rocks.

"Do you need help Geodude?" I asked as Weedle and I started pulling out rocks.

After what seemed like an hour of digging, I finally noticed what Geodude wanted to dig out. I could hear a faint voice coming from the other side of the wall of rocks. It was calling after Geodude. _It must be Geodude's trainer._ After we pulled out enough rocks, a pathway that had been blocked was now revealed. A flashlight shined in my face and I instantly held my hand in the way to block it. Geodude flew to its rescued trainer and it took me a moment to realize who the trainer was.

"It's you!" Gary Oak exclaimed while getting out a pokeball. "The thief!"

My eyes grew wide, and I realized just how bad my luck was at that moment. _Was he crazy? _Not only that, but I didn't want to battle him in a fair fight. I only had Weedle and Magikarp for a day, and he had about a year's experience in pokemon battling. My chances of winning this match were as low as finding a golden Magikarp from the Lake of Rage. Geodude seemed to agree with me, as it protested while folding its arms.

"We need to get out of this cave first," I spoke, "and then we can battle."

I could hardly believe I spoke those words, but Gary wasn't as convinced.

"The cave is unstable," I argued. "If we battle in here we'll both be buried alive together!"

"I don't trust you," He replied as he put his pokeball away and called Geodude back.

He started walking and I wondered for a minute if he wanted me to follow him or not. Weedle nudged me to move forward and I began following at a good distance behind him. I noticed Gary pause and when I looked around him I spotted the colony of Zubats again.

"Not again!" I yelled out while grabbing Weedle, ready to run.

Gary remained calm as he called out his Drowsey. I felt amazed as I watched Gary use Drowsey's Hypnosis to put all the Zubats asleep. He returned Drowsey to its pokeball and began walking around the Zubats. _A year's worth of experience does make a difference._ I was almost looking forward to having a match with him outside of this cave. I continued following Gary, hoping that we would both get out of this cave soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Life of a Villain**

* * *

Gary didn't speak a word to me nor even bother to look at me. He continued to walk and climb through the cave as if he was all alone. This slightly annoyed me considering Weedle and I were having a hard time following him. When he climbed over high rocks, Weedle and I were busy falling off of them. When he jumped on stones to get across a river, we were busy almost drowning in it. When he could easily get past wild pokemon using his own skills, we were busy running away from them. _Is this seriously__ the life of a villain?_ I began sighing while attempting to follow Gary again. Weedle seemed just as exhausted as I was and was now sleeping in its usual place on my shoulder. I was about to give up on traveling along with Gary until I noticed traces of sunlight coming from another room in the cave.

"Hey, Gary!" I exclaimed happily. "Look it's the exit!"

He continued to ignore my existence as he walked to the opposite end of the cave. _He's such a hard-head boy! He's rude and he's just infuriating! _I felt like ripping my hair out as I continued to watch Gary simply ignore me as if I was a bug he had squashed along the way. _I can understand not liking me, but I am still a human being!_ Out of anger, I turned my attention to my napping partner.

"Weedle! String Shot!" I commanded.

Weedle fell off my arm from being spooked by my sudden yelling. When he shook his head in order to fully wake himself and recover from the sudden impact of falling, he then wrapped Gary's legs together with a white stringy substance that sprung forth from his mouth. Gary fell to the ground within a few moments while leaving behind a large "thud" sound that echoed across the entire cave.

"So now you're going to play it that way!" He yelled out while attempting to grab one of his many pokeballs that hung onto his belt.

"The exit is this way!" I pointed out in frustration. "If you weren't busy being Mr. Hot Shot, you would've noticed that!"

Gary and I stood head-to-head just glaring at each other as he barely touched the smooth edges of a pokeball at his fingertips. Suddenly, Geodude popped out of its pokeball in order to keep the peace. He merely began looking at Gary like a father does to a son who disobeyed a rule. Gary finally came back to his senses and moved his arm away from his pokeball belt.

"Geodude," It spoke while looking satisfied at what it had achieved.

Gary ripped off the String Shot from his legs and began propping himself up. With a "humph", I walked through the exit of the cave making sure to leave him behind me. _Eat my dust Gary Oak!_

"Hey!" He snapped out at me. "You're not going anywhere! Thief!"

He called out Geodude to battle me and now I was regretting getting Gary out of that cave. I sighed as I called out Weedle onto the battlefield. I considered battling him a part of my "Team Rocket" duties so I took off my normal clothes to reveal my Team Rocket uniform.

"You're part of Team Rocket!" He yelled out in surprise. "I didn't know they recruited losers nowadays."

"I am not a loser, you jerk!" I screamed out feeling like I was going beyond my usual anger limits.

Weedle shook its head as it took its place in front of me on the battlefield. The battle began with Geodude using Rock Smash in an attempt to one hit K.O. Weedle. I knew my pokemon was pretty weak in defense, but I was hoping I could make up for that with his small compact size. I quickly made him dodge it by making its body roll around on the ground. Right when Weedle was done dodging, I made him use String Shot in an attempt to slow Geodude down. Geodude dodged it easily be counterattacking with Tackle. I made Weedle roll around again. I sighed realizing how much of a disadvantage my Weedle was at. I finally made Weedle use Poison Sting when I felt Geodude was in the right range. Geodude got a full ranged hit from the attack on his arm. Geodude started wincing as he was dodging.

"Bug Bite!" I yelled out hoping this move would finish Geodude off.

Gary looked stunned as my tiny Weedle was flying in the air ready to bite Geodude.

"Brick Break," He spoke and Geodude hit Weedle with his glowing fist in an instant critical hit.

Weedle fainted immediately and flew in the air like it just got hit by a baseball bat. I jumped up in the air and caught Weedle before it hit the ground. _I can't believe I lost to this gigantic jerk! _I sighed in order to calm myself down and think rationally. _He's a more experienced trainer than me of course I would lose. _I figured since I was a member of Team Rocket I needed some weird villainess phrase as I tried to escape Gary.

"You were saying you wouldn't be defeated," He smirked triumphantly. "But you are just as I called you out to be, a loser!"

He made a "L" shaped symbol on his forehead using his finger and thumb in order to put salt my wounds. I lost my cool, yet again.

"Loser," I began to grind my teeth in pure hatred of this person before me. "I have never met a more annoying boy in all my life! I may have lost, but I am perfectly well enough to…"

He cocked up an eyebrow as he looked at me in amusement, "Well enough to what?"

Being that this was the first time I have ever been this mad at anybody besides Team Rocket, I was speechless at what threat I could spit at him. _Uh…_I put my arms in front of me while clenching my fists as I shook them in anger.

"Sit on you! I am well enough to push you onto the ground and sit on you!" I yelled out.

The look on his face was almost timeless as he looked shocked for a few seconds and then crouched down to burst down laughing, "Sit on me? I am so terrified. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!"

My face turned a crimson red in embarrassment of my own threat, "Don't make fun of me!"

"Come on! Try to 'sit on me'" He laughed.

I couldn't take being around Gary Oak anymore so I ran and hide in the bushes. In the background, I could hear Gary return Geodude to his pokeball while still laughing over my 'threat'. I quickly put my regular clothes back on and felt foolish for thinking I could actually win against him. I began getting out my potions and started working on Weedle's wounds. Weedle flinched from the stings.

"It's okay Weedle," I spoke softly. "I'll bring you to a Pokemon Center."

Weedle needed a more experienced medical treatment and unfortunately I couldn't give that to him. I began walking through the trees wondering how I could walk around town without getting noticed by Gary. I paused when I noticed a burned down house in-between some trees. I ran inside the house and began changing into any clothes it had in there. I disguised myself as a boy with a brown beret covering my long hair and making it seem shorter. I wore brown shorts and a short-sleeved camouflage shirt with black shoes. I sighed as I walked into Violet City and began running into the Pokemon Center. I spoke with the Violet City Nurse Joy and she instantly took Weedle away from me to perform medical attention to it. I sat down on the waiting bench feeling foolish and depressed. Not only had I failed my mission, but I got Weedle hurt in the process.

Nurse Joy began to approached me as she explained that Weedle needed to stay overnight in order to fully recover its wounds. I nodded in agreement and began following her to the trainer cabins. I froze when I saw Gary in my room.

"Sorry," Nurse Joy spoke, "but due to it being a heavy tourist season my cabins are filled. You two are going to have to bunk together tonight."

Gary smiled at Nurse Joy and agreed to let me stay with him. I pulled my hat down more securely and entered the room while quickly placing my Pikachu backpack under the covers.

"Hey," Gary spoke to me as Nurse Joy left.

I froze for an instant. _Please don't tell me he didn't figure me out so soon! _

"You dropped your PokeGear," He pointed to the floor.

In a sigh of relief, I picked up my PokeGear and stuffed it in my pocket.

"So are you planning to challenge the Violet City Gym, also?" He asked while lying back on his bunk reading a magazine.

"No," I shook my head while sitting down. "Battling isn't for me."

"Then why are you here?" He looked at me with questioning eyes.

I looked straight up at him with a blank stare on my face. _To steal your Gengar and run back to Team Rocket Headquarters!_ My thoughts were in a scramble to answer this one simple question, yet I couldn't find the appropriate answer to it or more like the perfect lie for this situation. _What should I say?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Falkner**

* * *

_What am I so worried about? _I calmed my expression and began telling Gary that I mainly traveled around to sight-see.

"Ah," He understood. "You travel just to look around."

"Yeah," I laughed feeling relieved that he bought my excuse.

I fixed my beret to make sure it wasn't going to fall off when I had to bunk with Gary. I lay down on my plain-looking bunk, feeling relaxed for once. It was then I began to worry again. _Weedle, please be okay. _It felt lonely without my little pal around to turn to in times like these. _So this is the life of a Pokemon Trainer. _

"What pokemon did you leave here?" Gary asked as he turned a page in his magazine.

"Weedle," I replied without much thought.

"That's ironic," Gary laughed. "I battled a trainer with a Weedle a few minutes ago."

I froze instantly and began stating different scenarios in my head. All of them weren't good ones.

"Oh really?" I laughed nervously. "Is that why you're here?"

"Nah," He replied. "I had Hyper Potion on me. What idiot Pokemon Trainer wouldn't travel without one?"

_Me. _I felt annoyed by his comment. There were plenty of reasons not to travel with hyper potions. _For one, they were too expensive. For two, Its not every day you get into a match with such a rude brat like you! _I laughed a little bit at that comment. I might end up poisoning Gary every day in order to get his Gengar.

"What's your name?" Gary asked.

All I could utter was "Uh" as I began looking around for ideas of inspiration for a fake name. I spotted a green chair squished on the side of Gary's bunk bed and it reminded me of the Evergreen trees I hid behind in the forest. _Ever. _Right above that chair hung a poster with the huge letters "RETT" on it and a picture of a famous Pokemon Coordinator. _Everett. _

"Everett," I finally replied. "Sorry my thoughts were somewhere else."

"I plan on challenging the Violet City Gym when the Gym Leader is available," Gary sighed. "All these Pokemon Trainers keep challenging him."

It seemed to me from the look of our conversation that I wasn't the only one in a hurry to do something. I spotted Gary getting out his PokeGear and as he did he stood up and placed it back in his pocket. His PokeGear was different from mine with his being dark blue with a black strip down the middle.

"Are you planning on challenging the gym?" I asked as I also stood up. "I'll watch."

Gary nodded at me and began walking out of the Pokemon Center with me following behind. It was nice to see this side of Gary instead of the cold one he had towards me back in the Dark Cave. _I wonder if he would've been nice to me if I hadn't of stolen Magikarp. _I began to sigh. _Of course he would. Nobody treats a thief nicely. _As he entered the Pokemon Gym, I noticed it was filled with flying-type Pokemon Trainers. Spearows were flying around the rooftop of the gym with Pidgeys flying in-between them. I noticed different varieties of bird pokemon just mainly resting around beside their trainers. My eyes widened as I saw the huge population of trainers waiting to challenge Falkner, the Violet City Gym Leader.

"Are you sure you need to battle him today?" I asked stunned by the enormous crowd of trainers waiting before the battlefield door. "Why not wait until tomorrow?"

Gary stared at me in a whimsical way and laughed.

"No way," He replied as he took his place in line. "I feel the urge to fight a tough opponent today."

I stared up at him and as I did I almost admired him. He looked calm and composed unlike the other nervous trainers. He also had an air of an easy-going feeling about him. He reminded me of someone I knew and I couldn't help but have an image of flaming red hair in my head as I continued to stare at Gary. I shook my head and laughed internally. _They aren't that much alike. _

As we stood in line for what seemed like a decent amount of time, I noticed the crowd slowly diminishing and trainers leaving looking thoroughly beaten. _Wow, nobody has gotten a Gym Badge yet. _I stared back at Gary to find he still had that confident look on his face. I remembered what I knew about Falkner and that he was a specialized bird pokemon expert. _Did Gary stand a chance against him? _Finally, the line was entirely gone and Gary was the next challenger up. A girl that had challenged Falkner before ran out of his gym in tears while holding her Charmander.

Gary walked inside the battlefield room and stood his place in the white shaped box. I was motioned by the referee to take my place which was sitting on a bench beside the battlefield. The referee discussed the general rules. In order to get the Violet City Gym Badge, Gary had to beat three of Falkner's pokemon. Whichever pokemon faints first in the battle loses the match.

"Murkrow, let's go!" Falkner called out as his Murkrow was summoned out of its pokeball and now stood on the field.

"Raichu!" Gary called out as he summoned it out.

Raichu and Murkrow positioned themselves in front of each other ready to battle. The referee began waving his flags in a circular motion while shouting that the battle will begin. I stood amazed as Murkrow flew high up in the air in mere seconds and started shooting Shadow Balls at Raichu. _I didn't realize a Murkrow was that fast. _Raichu dodged each of the Shadow Balls be deflecting them with its own Thunder attack. Falkner commanded Murkrow almost like an art form with each time almost interpreting Gary's moves and finding some form of attack to deflect them. Gary was still keeping his calm as he kept shooting attack after electrical attack at Murkrow. I was almost at the edge of my seat as Murkrow finally hit Raichu from behind with a critical hit from its Pursuit attack. Raichu fell flat on its face, but managed to get up while rubbing its back. _Come on Gary! Can't you see there's an opening? _There was an opening as Murkrow was taking its time trying to fly back in a safe distance away from Raichu. Gary instantly saw this the same time I did and commanded Raichu to unleash a powerful Thunderbolt attack upon Murkrow. Instantly, Murkrow fell back to the ground unconscious.

"Murkrow is unable to battle. The first round goes to Gary," The referee announced.

Falkner didn't seem bothered by his loss as he called out his Xatu. I wondered what Falkner's next move was going to be. Gary called back his Raichu and changed it to Geodude. Immediately, the battle was commenced to start. As Gary started the battle off with Brick Break, Falkner made Xatu use Psychic on Geodude and sent Geodude flying back. _Wow. _Geodude quickly recovered and was now attempting to attack Xatu with another Brick Break, but as he did that Xatu jumped back and started pecking Geodude on its back. Geodude was once again sent to the ground. _Geodude is a rock-type pokemon it shouldn't be greatly affected by Xatu's attacks! _I could see Gary getting muffled as Xatu kept outsmarting Geodude. I found myself in the state of mind that Gary might actually lose this round.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – Separate Identities**

* * *

Xatu was getting the upper hand on Geodude as it launched another Psychic attack. Geodude was sent back while it was heavily breathing. I could tell Geodude was getting tired and its endurance to Xatu's attacks would eventually get worse. _Gary, do something! _I was practically clinging to the edge of the bench now. This battle had riled up my adrenaline more than any roller-coaster would have had at that moment. Gary looked stumped as if he was losing ideas, but then I noticed something. A gleam sparkled in his eyes and I could almost feel a whole new rush of determination coming forth from him. He stood up straighter and commanded Geodude to Brick Break once again. The Brick Break missed Xatu miserably and I almost wanted to cover my face from the embarrassment. _To think I almost thought you were going to do better._ Then I noticed Gary doing the same exact move in the same exact place while having Geodude dodge Xatu's Psychic and Peck attacks.

I didn't realize what Geodude was doing until his full plan came into action. The battle field finally cracked from Geodude's Brick Break and pieces of it were flying in the air. Geodude then used his Rock Tomb to throw all the flying pieces of the battlefield at Xatu. Xatu couldn't escape all those rock and was hit instantly with a critical hit. Xatu fell to the ground unconscious. I could feel the same rush of excitement Gary was feeling as the referee announced that he had won the second round.

Finally the referee announced the third and final round. Gary returned his Geodude and sent back his Raichu on the battlefield. Falkner sent out his Noctowl and it began to fly on the battlefield instantly. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my veins and I knew this last and final battle was going to be the most exciting out of all of them. Gary started the battle with having his Raichu use Thunder on Noctowl. Noctowl dodged it by using its attack Aerial Ace and hit Raichu on its arm. Raichu began using a combination of electrical attacks such as combining Thunder and Thunderbolt together to try to hit Noctowl, but Noctowl tricked Raichu with its Double Team to avoid the attacks. Noctowl was using its Double Team with full advantaged as it started souring flying headfirst towards Gary's Raichu. Raichu started Thunderbolting every Noctowl it saw, but it was too late. Noctowl hit Raichu from behind using its attack Brave Bird. Raichu looked heavily injured as its body flew halfway across the battlefield.

_Raichu, get up. _Raichu weakly got up and was breathing heavily indicating that it was tired as well. _Gary you got to do something or Raichu will faint! _I couldn't contain the adrenaline in me sitting down any longer and stood up. This battle felt too real and too intense for me to contain myself.

"Gary!" I yelled out. "Don't look stunned like that! Raichu needs your twinkle!"

Gary stared at me and something about him seemed to awaken up. He looked at Raichu and I saw that twinkle from the earlier match come back in his eyes. He knew what he had to do now. He made Raichu fall back and Noctowl was diving headfirst yet again with its Double Team. Gary made Raichu run around in circles using Agility and then had Raichu jump up in the air. All of Raichu's Agility clones followed and began Thundering and Thunderbolting every Noctowl they saw. The real Raichu finally caught a glimpse of the real Noctowl and hit it with its most powerful Thunder attack. The Thunder attack was so powerful it lit up the entire stadium and when it faded the stadium light's seem to dim down. Noctowl instantly fell to the ground unconscious. Raichu jumped into Gary's arm and Gary seemed so full of excitement he began jumping up and down. I started screaming out of excitement and even Falkner joined in and laughed.

"Congratulations," Falkner shook Gary's hand sternly.

Falkner handed Gary the Violet City Gym Badge and Gary held it up in the air allowing the light to gleam on it. The gym badge was silver and resembled a bird's wings in a "U" shaped position. Gary placed his first Johto badge in his badge case and returned Raichu to its pokeball. The Violet City Nurse Joy entered the stadium and handed me back my Weedle with a smile while taking Gary's and Falkner's injured pokemon away to be treated.

Suddenly, we noticed people's screams outside. Falkner, Gary, and I ran outside to spot Team Rocket had taken over the Sprout Tower. My eyes widened as I knew I had to run over there and help Team Rocket. I froze instantly on the spot, and for a split second I wished I never joined Team Rocket. I shook my head to wipe the idea away. _Never wish for that it's important that I go through with this so I can make my plan come to action! _

"Everett, we got to help those people!" Gary called out to me as he looked like he was waiting for me to run to him.

I was scared and I didn't know what to do. Then I realized that this fear is what could help me. I could become two separate beings to Gary.

"I'm sorry! I'm just too scared!" I lied as I ran off in the opposite directions and hid in the bushes.

Gary sighed at me and ran inside the Sprout Tower building. Immediately, I changed into my Team Rocket uniform and took the back entrance into the Sprout Tower. Team Rocket grunts were everywhere and fending off police officers from reaching the top. A grunt commanded me to help the others upstairs since they were having a rough time with some kid. I ran upstairs and spotted that Gary had already finished off a couple of the grunts using his Gengar. As he was about to run up the stairs, I blocked him with my arms spread out wide.

"Hold it right there!" I yelled out. "You have to get through me first!"

Gary was all ready to battle as his Gengar went in front of him. I called out Weedle yet again to battle. I could feel the adrenaline rushing through me as I was ready to watch Gary battle again, but this time as a villain. _Ah, the life of a villain. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Sprout Tower**

* * *

Gengar headed for Weedle first using a Headbutt, but Weedle dodged by rolling around again. Gary seemed irritated and I knew he had every reason to be upset. He had just come out of his Gym match and now he has to deal with Team Rocket again. I sighed as I made Weedle use its Bug Bite to attack Gengar. _I didn't want to do this either, but I have a job to do. _Gengar dodged the attack and critically hit Weedle with a Shadow Ball. Weedle flew at me again unconscious and Gary left me standing there as he ran up the stairs. I sighed at Weedle and began healing its wounds with a potion. Weedle snuggled up against me and I noticed its wounds weren't as bad as I thought they had been.

An idea popped into my head and I examined my surroundings. Most of the goons had left to run downstairs or had been unconscious. I started changing into my Everett outfit and ran up the stairs with Weedle. I noticed Gary having a hard time with a couple of grunts.

"Nice of you to join us," Gary smiled at me as he used Headbutt to make one of the Grunt's pokemon faint. "Do you mind helping out?"

I nodded towards Gary and had Weedle use Bug Bite to make the last of the Grunt's pokemon faint. Gary and I continued to work as a team to fend off the remaining grunts.

"Do you know why they're attacking the tower?" I asked while running up the stairs holding Weedle.

"No," Gary replied while matching my step, "but if it's Team Rocket you better believe it isn't for good."

I nodded in agreement as we finally reached the final floor of the tower. The monks of the tower were surrounding by Team Rocket grunts. We spotted Falkner fighting off a tag-team battle between Grunt and one of the main Lieutenants.

"Falkner!" We yelled out as his pokemon fainted.

"Falkner you take care of the Grunts!" Gary commanded. "Everett and I we'll take care of these two."

Falkner nodded in agreement and ran over to take care of the rest of the grunts. I took on the Grunt as Gary took on the Lieutenant in our tag-team match. I felt the adrenaline rush through me again as I sent Weedle onto the battlefield and Gary sent his Gengar. We were facing a Golbat and a Kingler. Kingler began using its Crab Hammer on the flooring causing it to have an earthquake. When Weedle and Gengar lost their balance Golbat hit them with a Confuse Ray. Weedle and Gengar began fighting each other.

"Weedle! Listen to me!" I pleaded. "Don't Bug Bite Gengar!"

I sighed as Weedle began chomping at Gengar's ear and Gengar was shooting Shadow Balls everywhere. Gengar was the first to snap out of confusion and immediately sent an arsenal of shadow balls at Golbat. Golbat instantly got hit and fell to the floor unconscious. The grunt immediately ran out of the room scared and abandoned his Golbat. Weedle was still chomping at Gengar's ear and I felt like I was growing red from embarrassment. Gengar kept dodging attacks and finally made Kingler faint with a Shadow Ball attack. The lieutenant ran out of the room while returning his Kingler to its pokeball. I stared at Weedle still full of embarrassment, even after the battle was over Weedle was still chomping at Gengar's ear.

"Relax. I got a cure for Confuse Ray's effects," Gary laughed as he sprayed a Full Heal on Weedle.

Weedle dropped down to the floor and looked up at me with a smile. I began laughing as I picked up Weedle.

"Well you've always known how to be a pest," I laughed.

I noticed Golbat was staring at me while wanting to cry.

"Poor pokemon, got abandoned by those thugs!" Gary snapped.

I walked over to Golbat and placed Weedle on the floor. I didn't understand how anybody could just abandon their pokemon like that and I was technically a villain myself. I started petting Golbat's head. _I don't want to abandon it. _I stood up and got out a pokeball.

"Golbat," I asked. "How about traveling with me?"

Golbat looked up at me and started crying. I laughed as I threw the pokeball at Golbat and watched the flashing light stay still. Golbat was now officially my pokemon. I returned Weedle to its pokeball and stared up at Gary.

"We better head back to the Pokemon Center," he replied while he ran down the stairs.

I agreed with him and ran after him. When we reached the Pokemon Center it was just as chaotic as the one in Cherrygrove City. Nurse Joy was busy tending to not only the Monk's injured pokemon, but Team Rockets abandoned pokemon as well. I sighed feeling worse off now that I had joined such a low-moral organization like Team Rocket. _Don't worry Irina, once you work out your plan then you can leave them for good. _It was then I wondered where Falkner vanished off too.

"Do you know where Falkner is?" I asked, wondering if Falkner was alright.

"I saw him help out some injured pokemon after he finished off those goons," Gary replied while staring at the chaos. "I wonder if there's something we can do."

I walked up to Nurse Joy and offered our services. Nurse Joy smiled at me thankfully and began having Gary and I place the rest of the injured pokemon in beds in the hospital rooms. I carried the little pokemon since I didn't have much upper-body strength. When I entered the hospital holding a Clefairy and a Jigglypuff, I noticed that the hospital room was even more chaotic then what was going on in the waiting room. The Chanseys were busy healing the more severely wounded pokemon and I placed the two small pokemon to share a bed. Gary came in bringing in a Starmie and placed it on a bed. For the rest of the entire day, Gary and I spent it bringing in pokemon from the waiting room into the hospital room. Once we placed the last of the remaining injured pokemon we laid back in our rooms to rest.

Gary instantly fell fast asleep, but all I could do was lay there staring at the ceiling. I now had three pokemon: Magikarp, Weedle, and Golbat. I sighed at thinking of how I was going to explain to Golbat that its trainer is a girl and is also in Team Rocket. I stared at Gary and knew what I had to do. I had to stay as Everett and travel with Gary. When Gary would least expect it, I'll steal his Gengar. Everything would come into place once I reached Team Rocket Headquarters, and then I can be free of Team Rocket and this regret. I sighed as I turned over on my side and fixed my beret. _Hopefully, this will all work out in the end. _I slowly closed my eyes and drifted to sleep waiting for the next day.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Fear**

* * *

I was awoken early in the morning by the feeling of something poking my back. I yawned as I turned over to spot Golbat beside me fast asleep. I froze at first and sat up quickly. _Golbat is wearing my beret! _I quickly looked over to find Gary sleeping soundly and noticed little streaks of sunlight shine across his body. I quickly took out my PokeGear to find it was around 5am. I took my beret off of Golbat's head and placed it quickly on mine. I stuffed all my hair inside it and made sure nothing was sticking out while using my PokeGear as a mirror. Golbat had woken up and was now standing up on the bed watching me with curiosity in its eyes. _I better explain now or else she'll really be confused. _

I commanded Golbat to follow me outside and so we walked together out of the Pokemon Center with my Pikachu backpack swinging over my back. I walked both of us to a rural area of the city, which was in an alleyway that was beside the Sprout Tower. I sighed as I sat down and leaned my back against the wall. I took off my hat to reveal my long light pink hair and stared to my side to find Golbat confused again.

"Golbat, I have a lot of things to tell you," I sighed. "I'm a girl and I'm part of Team Rocket."

Golbat's eyes were as wide as mine were when I first received my PokeGear. _Please Golbat don't stare at me like that. _I felt my eyes water as Golbat kept staring at me with a hurt expression written all over its face. I quickly turned to face Golbat and wiped my eyes. _I have to show her I'm different from that guy who abandoned her!_

"But I'm different!" I argued. "I'm only in Team Rocket to save someone!"

Golbat's eyes were still staring at me disapprovingly.

"I know this is a horrible way to save someone," I sat back against the wall while still speaking. "I know I'm lying to Gary, stealing his pokemon, and finally saving someone, but please believe me when I say this is the only way."

Golbat still looked at me in disbelief. _I'm not getting through to her. _I sighed and regained my thoughts.

"You don't understand. I need to save her," I felt my eyes water, "it's my entire fault she isn't at home right now."

Golbat wobbled closer to me and with a single flash it surrounded its wings around me in order to comfort me in a hug. I hugged Golbat back and began to cry. _I miss you Rayne! Please wait for me a little bit longer! _I began sobbing, but then I drew back and rubbed my eyes. I needed to be brave, be strong, and be anything in order to save Rayne. If that meant remaining as a villain, so be it. I stood up and fixed my beret on my head. Golbat looked up at me with a determined expression on its face and I felt like she finally understood my true motives. I began walking back towards the Pokemon Center when I noticed Gary was outside. He was sitting in a comfy position on the bench with his arms leaning back and his leg resting on the other. I recalled Golbat to her pokeball and ran over to Gary.

"Were you waiting for me?" I asked my eyebrows flashing up in surprise.

"You're making us late," He stood up while stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I want to make it to Azalea Town before sun down."

"Azalea Town?" I replied surprised. "That doesn't have a Pokemon Gym in it."

"Doesn't matter," he ended the subject as he started walking away.

I ran up to him and matched his pace. I fixed up my Pikachu backpack and noticed him stare at me oddly. _Oh shot! Did he remember this backpack from when I stole Magikarp? _I stared up at him nervously and smiled awkwardly.

"That must be one popular backpack," he replied as he kept walking. "Where'd you get it?"

"Goldenrod City," I responded relieved. "They had a sale on it."

We continued walking in utter silence. It occurred to me that while traveling with him recognizing me as Everett felt the same as when I was myself in the Union Cave. _If this is how he acts around his friends, I hate to think how he acts around his girlfriend. _He noticed me looking at him for a long period of time.

"I'm not used to traveling with a boy," he began laughing.

_I am a girl! _I paused to stop myself from yelling that out. For a second there, I had forgotten who I was supposed to pretend to be.

"You usually travel with girls?" I asked to continue the conversation.

"Back when I was in Kanto I used to travel in a car filled with girls," he laughed. "Those were one of my more reckless days."

I looked up at him pitying those poor girls. _Those poor girls, they must've been so neglected by this clueless fool. _He looked at me with a confused expression.

"Are you sad or something?" he asked.

"No, I was just thinking of something," I replied while walking a bit faster.

We continued the rest of the way making small talk until we reached the Union Cave. I gulped as I noticed that this cave seemed even more frightening than the Dark Cave. Gary started shoving me into the cave.

"Are you sure you traveled around by yourself?" he asked. "You always seem scared of something."

I glared at Gary. _At least I'm easier to talk to! _Gary took my expression as a sign to back off and began looking through his bag to get out his flashlight. The cave seemed dark and I could hear the howls of Zubats nearby. I gulped yet again remembering the painful memory of Weedle and me running from them. Gary began walking deeper into the cave and I followed closely behind him feeling jumpier than ever.

"Would you relax? This cave isn't going to kill you," he snapped as he continued walking.

"Did you hear that?" I jumped as a Rattata ran past my leg.

"Settle down already!" Gary snapped as he continued walking down the cave.

I began settling down realizing I was acting like myself. _Come on Irina, think like a boy. Boys aren't afraid of caves! _I felt myself being lifted up off the ground and realized I was standing on something that was moving. I peered down and saw dark red eyes staring up at me. I screamed, jumped down off it, and started running for my life while leaving Gary behind me. _Forget being brave I want out of this cave! _I could hear Gary calling out for me, but I was far beyond reach in fear. I felt something watching and following me as I continued running. My lungs ached and finally I ceased my movements in order to catch my breath. I looked behind me to find the dark red eyes still staring at me in the dark. I fell down to the ground and started crawling backwards until I was up against the wall. The dark red eyes were now in front of me and I could feel its breath upon me now. _What is this thing?_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 – Forbidden Friendship**

* * *

I felt my voice choke up, my heart beat faster, and my pulse rise as the creature was right in front of my face and standing above my body. I wanted to scream, but my voice couldn't come out. I wanted to run, but my body wouldn't move. I was paralyzed and the worst part was that I didn't know if it was from the creature or the fear inside of me. Suddenly, I heard Gary's voice echoing throughout the whole cave and I realized that I couldn't let it end for me. I finally reached my backpack and called out Weedle. The Pokemon with the dark red eyes seemed to back off.

"Weedle! Poison Sting that Pokemon now!" I commanded as I stood up quickly.

Weedle used all its focus and let out a dozen needles from its mouth at the mysterious pokemon. The pokemon dodged the attack and let out a cry that I knew instantly as the move Supersonic. My eyes were wide instantly as Weedle seemed to bob its head in an odd way. _Weedle, how come you always get confused easily? _I sighed and finally Gary came running at me.

"Everett, are you okay?" Gary yelled out while catching his breath. "Don't run off like that again!"

"I'm sorry," I replied. "I got attacked by a pokemon!"

Gary shined the light at the dark red eyed pokemon and I noticed it was a Venonat. The Venonat stared up at us frightened with its huge red eyes.

"By a Venonat?" he stared at me annoyed.

I began laughing awkwardly at Gary, also feeling ridiculous. Weedle suddenly bit my leg using Bug Bite and I began running around in circles trying to get Weedle off.

"Weedle!" I yelled out as I continued running trying to get Weedle off. "Stop biting me!"

I misplaced my footing and landed myself on the ground with a loud "thud".

"You're such an idiot!" Gary yelled out annoyed as he bent down to the ground and pulled Weedle off my leg.

I began positioning myself to sit up on my knees when I noticed I had placed my face close to Gary's. Up-close Gary left a different impression on me with his dark brown eyes, pale skin, and dark lashes staring down at Weedle. He felt enticing up-close and all I could do was gaze at him with a weird sensation covering my entire body. Gary finally stood up and stared down at me with a glare.

"What are you doing just sitting there?" he snapped. "Thanks to you we'll arrive at Azalea Town late!"

I felt annoyed at his tone and stood up. _What's wrong with me? I must be nuts for feeling anything different for this selfish brat! _I recalled Weedle to its pokeball and followed Gary out of the cave. Gary placed his flashlight away and sighed as he saw the moon high up in the sky. He glared at me and continued walking. _Why is he so upset we arrived here late? _

"Stop being so angry at me," I argued while following Gary. "I said I was sorry."

"I heard you," he replied while continuing to walk with an annoyed expression.

I folded my arms as we entered the Pokemon Center. _He's like a grumpy old man! _Nurse Joy immediately showed us to the available guest rooms. She seemed nervous by the way she kept playing with her fingers constantly. Before I could ask her anything, she left quickly and out of sight. I sighed as I placed my bag on my bunk.

"Look Everett," Gary sighed. "I'm sorry I shouldn't be annoyed at you. I was just worried about you when you ran off like that."

I looked over at Gary surprised. _Gary was worried about me? _

"You ran off screaming like a girl," he laughed. "I thought you lost your mind."

I looked at him annoyed. _Lost my mind? _

"Still, try not to get separated from me again," he commanded as he lay on his bed.

For some odd reason, a surge of joy went through me to find that Gary Oak had been worried about me.

"Why?" I asked while I sat on my bunk. "Why would you worry about me?"

"Because we're friends," he rolled his eyes as he turned over. "Now shut up and get some sleep."

My eyes were spread wide open. _We're friends? _Then the image of Team Rocket popped into my head. I sighed as I lay down. I had been sure that joining Team Rocket was the only way to save Rayne, but now I felt confused and unsure. _Was joining Team Rocket a good decision? _I turned over to see Gary already sound asleep. _He considered me his friend. _I felt like a horrible person as I closed my eyes to fall asleep. _The life of a villain hurts. _

The next morning I spotted people running outside almost in a riot. I sat up quickly and noticed Team Rocket running towards the opposite location towards a road Gary and I had passed in order to enter Azalea Town. I stared down at Gary sound asleep and I stared outside at Team Rocket. I sighed as I left Gary in the room and ran outside. _Duty calls. _I quickly ran in the bushes and changed into my Team Rocket uniform. I ran up to one of the Team Rocket grunts and briefly asked what the situation was.

"We're taking over Slowpoke Well!" he replied to me cheerfully. "All those Slowpoke tails are going to make us rich!"

I sighed as I ran with the other grunts to the Slowpoke Well. I felt horrible joining up with them and helping them with this scheme, but I had to do it. The grunts began using a ladder to go down the well, but then paused when they heard a voice call out to them. I turned around and spotted an old man facing us while holding an odd looking pokeball in his hand.

"I won't let you evil people hurt these beautiful Slowpoke!" the old man yelled out as he called out his slowpoke.

I stood there dumbfounded as to who this old guy was. I noticed his green katana and his long grey hair. He seemed as if the wrinkles on his face represented many events through time and I knew instantly who this was. I had recognized him from reading magazines on pokemon. Right before me was the famous Kurt who made pokeballs out of apricorns. He began making his Slowpoke use Hydro Pump at the Team Rocket Grunts and I could feel myself getting in trouble each second he defeated each grunt's pokemon. I quickly ran towards the well but then was blocked off by a familiar Gengar.

"Hold it right there!" Gary called out behind me. "Team Rocket!"

I slowly turned around to face Gary with a shocked expression. _When did Gary wake up? _Then a sudden idea occurred to me.

"You better let me through or your friend gets it," I pointed at him. "Unless you don't care what happens to Everett."

Gary's face turned into an expression of horror and anger mixed into one. I watched carefully as his hands turned into fists.

"What have you done with Everett?" he yelled out. "If you did anything to him, I'll make sure you regret it!"

My eyes were widened in shock. _Did he really care about me that much?_ I stood there frozen and unable to move or bring myself to move.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 – Caught**

* * *

I sighed and pushed the doubts I had faced in my heart.

"I promise not to do anything," I replied as I placed my arm down and stood in a serious stance, "if you let me go."

Gary stared at me with anger written all over him. He commanded his Gengar to move away from the well and I started climbing down the ladder. As I was climbing down the well, I felt my feelings being crushed. _I'm sorry Gary. _When I landed on the bottom, I quickly stood with the other grunts. A Team Rocket grunt handed me a Slowpoke and started positioning himself to cut off the Slowpoke's tail. My eyes widened in horror as I realized how evil watching this was.

"Stop!" I cried out unable to take it. "Please don't cut off its tail!"

The grunt stared up at me annoyed and took the Slowpoke away from me preparing to cut its tail without my help. I ran towards the grunt preparing to stop him when an explosion occurred behind us. I turned around to spot Gary and Kurt beating the other grunts. The grunt before me began running with the Slowpoke in his arms and I ran after him. _I can't let him hurt that Slowpoke! _I quickly grabbed the Slowpoke from him and threw the Slowpoke in the water. The grunt tackled me to the ground.

"How dare you do that!" he yelled out as he wrestled me still to the ground.

"Swim away Slowpoke!" I called out as Slowpoke began diving its body into the water.

Kurt and Gary were getting closer to our location. The grunt noticed this and began running off to save his own self. I stood up and was about to run too when something pulled me into the water. I opened my eyes to spot Slowpoke in front of me, it began swimming along slowly. I followed the Slowpoke as it showed me another way out of the well. When I dived up to the surface, I had found I was in a secret lake in the forest near Azalea Town. I got out of the lake and turned around to thank Slowpoke, but it had already swum off to do other things.

"Thank you Slowpoke!" I replied as I crawled out of the water.

I pulled out my PokeGear to find it was fried. I sighed and left it out to dry. Without the PokeGear I was going to have a hard time finding a way back to Azalea Town. I stood up and placed the PokeGear back in my pocket. I began walking around the forest and suddenly hid behind a tree as I noticed a couple of cops were scanning the area for any leftover Team Rocket grunts. I gulped as I noticed a Growlithe pick up my scent. The Growlithe began running after me and I started running for my life. I started climbing over any rocks blocking my path, crawling through any bush in my way, and squeezing through the trees just to escape Growlithe. I had a plan to climb up a tree to hide from Growlithe, but that would leave me stranded. With nowhere to go and a Growlithe on my tail I was panicking at what I would do. _What should I do? _

I tripped and fell in some mud and as I slowly got up my body collapsed back down out of exhaustion. Growlithe was coming up close and my body was too exhausted to move. I was willing to give up until finally a memory of Rayne flashed in my head. _Rayne needs me! _I began slowly moving my body to sit up. _She's alone. _I slowly started using a tree to help me up. _She's scared. _I then spotted Growlithe ready to bite at me. _She's waiting for me to save her!_

"Weedle! Poison sting!" I yelled out as I summoned Weedle.

Weedle immediately hit Growlithe's leg and Growlithe fell to the ground while licking its leg. I picked up Weedle and began running as I noticed the cops running towards Growlithe.

"Hurry, get her!" I heard them yell. "She poisoned Growlithe's leg!"

I continued running with Weedle at hand. Weedle was squirming in my arms, but I only tightened my grip so I wouldn't drop him. One of the cops sent out a Fearow to chase after my tail. I only continued running faster as Weedle shot Poison Sting at it. The Fearow only dodged it by flying in-between trees. _Gah! This Fearow is getting too close to us! _I looked down at Weedle and noticed it glowing.

"Weedle?" I asked as I continued running.

Weedle glowed brighter and changed shape to another pokemon. _Weedle had evolved into Kakuna! _I stared amazing at Kakuna.

"Weedle you're a Kakuna!" I yelled out excited.

Fearow ruined our happy moment as it flew down using a Drill Peck move. My eyes grew wide as Kakuna launched itself in the air and protected me using its Iron Defense.

"Kakuna tackle!" I yelled out.

Kakuna used all its power to tackle Fearow's wing. Fearow fell to the ground and as it was distracted I grabbed Kakuna and began running off. I could still hear those two cops still at my tail as they called out all their pokemon at once to capture Kakuna and me. I began thinking of what I was going to do if they were going to capture us. _I have to release my pokemon if they capture me. I can't let them be punished for my sake. _I sighed as I stared down at Kakuna. Kakuna's stare spoke to me more than words could ever speak. _No! I can't get caught! They believe in me and Rayne is waiting for me! _I began running faster feeling as if this path would lead me to a way out. _I need to get stronger! Just like Weedle became stronger for me! _I continued jumping over rocks, climbing through shrubs, and passing through trees ignoring the pain I felt in my lungs and how tired my body was feeling. Finally I saw beyond me the Pokemon Center of Azalea Town.

_I'm almost there! _Suddenly a Ponyta jumped in front of me and I quickly made Kakuna use Poison Sting to distract it. The Ponyta was persistent as it kept chasing Kakuna and me. Kakuna kept shooting a constant attack of Poison Sting as it persisted to chase us. I felt my body reaching its limit as my vision began to feel blurry. I attempted to keep my focus back on getting to Azalea Town as I made Kakuna use Tackle to get Ponyta to stay away from us. Finally Kakuna and I made it to the sight where I left my things. I recalled Kakuna to its pokeball and began gathering up my stuff. My eyes lost focus again and my body collapsed to the ground. I quickly sat up and continued to gather my stuff again. _I'm not going to pass out here when I'm so close! _I punched the ground repeatedly with my left hand in order to get my body to stabilize. I stood up and slowly walked out of the bushes.

I stood there out in the open, but at first I hadn't cared nor noticed since I was too exhausted. I used the tree to help support me as I began sorting through my clothes to get ready to put on my Everett outfit. I turned around to lean my back up against the tree to catch my breath, but my eyes widened as I saw Gary stand in front of me. Gary's eyes were as wide as mine as he stared at the clothes I was holding.

"Everett?" he spoke, but his words kept repeatedly echoing throughout my mind.

_It's over. _

To be continued…


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 – Betrayal**

* * *

"You're Everett?" Gary's voice quivered as he staggered backwards. "You've been lying to me all this time!"

I couldn't bring myself to speak words to him. Words seemed meaningless at the betrayal I knew Gary felt. I crouched down defiantly and began stuffing Everett's clothes in my bag, attempting to ignore his stares of horror at me.

"Is that all you have to do?" He asked. "Stuff those fake clothes in your bag and fool everyone else!"

I zipped up my bag and stood up while positioning myself up against the tree. My uniform had been ripped up in certain places following with scratches I got from the running away from the police's pokemon. I felt lightheaded. I felt like a fool. I couldn't bring myself to stare at Gary.

"Why?" He yelled out at me. "Why did you have to be in Team Rocket?"

"My job is to steal your Gengar," I explained. "I never asked to be considered your friend."

The look Gary gave me felt as if he had sent a thousand daggers striking my heart. The look was so frightening I couldn't help, but take a step backwards toward the tree I was using to hold myself up.

"Oh, is that so?" He snapped with an icy tone to his voice.

_Good. Hate me Gary. I don't need your pity. _Gary stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking off. _Wait, he's letting me go? _I stared at him steadily as he walked away from me. Without questioning why he was doing that, I took off running back in the forest. I continued running and as I did I couldn't help, but argue with myself internally. My only justified reason for being in this position was to save Rayne, but I couldn't help but wonder if this decision had been the right one._ If it wasn't for Team Rocket, I would be in Rustboro City studying in a private school. If it wasn't for Team Rocket, I would be with Rayne right now. If it wasn't for Team Rocket, I wouldn't have met Gary_. My eyes widened as that thought flew across my head and I landed headfirst into the ground. As I lay on the ground on my side, tears strum down my face with a picture of Gary in my head.

"Stop crying," I sobbed as I spoke to myself. "He wasn't your friend to begin with remember! Stop crying."

Sobbing had finally pulled my body to its breaking point, and I found myself passed out instantly after a sort while. When I awoke, I had found myself in a well-lighted facility with windows decorating the right side of the wall and white being the main theme of the room. I was in a hospital uniform and found myself pulling covers over me, feeling scared. I sat up examining my surroundings in a panic. _Where's my pokemon? _The room was empty except for the bed with a pile of machines mashed into a corner beside it and a closet at the opposite wall from where the bed was positioned at. _Why am I here? _I noticed a Team Rocket grunt open the door to check up on me.

"Ah, so you're awake?" He smiled at me. "We thought you were a goner there. You've been sleeping ever since we found you the other day."

My eyes widened as I finally realized where this facility was. _I'm in Goldenrod City. _I recognized this place from when I last attempted to join up, but was sent to New Bark Town in order to pass initiation. The grunt removed his hat revealing a girl with long lavender hair reaching her waist.

"Did you find me?" I asked wondering why she was dressed in a boy's uniform.

She began laughing while closing the curtains, "I was the grunt you stole that Slowpoke from."

My eyes widened as she stared back at me with a smirk. _My pokemon!_

"What did you do to my pokemon?" I snapped as I coiled the sheets into my fists.

"My dear," she laughed. "I would worry more about what's going to happen to you, because I already told the boss of your betrayal Ms. Wimp!"

I sat there frozen with horror.

"Don't think of this all negatively," She laughed as she began walking out of the room. "After all thanks to you, I got promoted. In the end, thank you for your idiocy. Loser!"

Her hackled laughter echoed throughout my hospital room as she slammed the door. _Her heart is as black as her eyes! _I began pulling off machine wires off of my body as I started planning on how I was going to break out of that place. The hospital gown I was wearing looked exactly like a gigantic t-shirt on me. I pulled out the hair braids from my hair and let my hair fall to my shoulders. I began fixing my hospital gown using my hair braids so I could feel more comfortable. I began attempting to open the door, but it was locked from the outside. _Shoot! _I quickly opened the closet and found an air vent near the floor. I shoved the boxes away and quickly used a tool I found in my patient room in order to open up the air vent.

It felt odd crawling in a cramped air vent with the cool silver metal making little noises every now and again. I noticed the grunts running around in a panic as they noticed I was no longer in my hospital room. I continued crawling as I spied on them every so often through the panels. I finally found the departments where people's stolen items were held and I quickly kicked open the air vent. Two grunts were guarding the room and when I landed on one of them, the other grunt quickly was attempting to call out his pokemon to stop me. I was determined not to get caught and ended up throwing the other grunt's unconscious body at him then took off running towards where I spotted my stuff. My stuff was locked up in an air tight security sealed case and I instantly typed in the code to unlock it. Quickly, I changed into my regular clothes and threw the Team Rocket uniform to the floor. _Good riddance Team Rocket! _I looked in my backpack to see if anything else were taken from it. I noticed my pokemon were missing from it. _They better not have done any harm to my pokemon! _

I used the air vent again to sneak into the Pokemon Capture department, which wasn't far from where the items were held. I spotted the room oddly empty. _Darn it's a trap! _I opened up the panel and began hanging off it while scanning my surroundings. I quickly kicked down a security camera that was in front of me and landed on the floor. I heard the alarm sound and I quickly barricaded the door using the shelves trainer's pokeballs were being held on. I searched around through the pokeballs for my pokemon, but sighed as I realized the mountains of pokeballs within the room.

"Kakuna! Magikarp! Golbat!" I called out.

My calls were useless as I realized nothing was happening and I stared behind me in agony as the grunts were using pokemon to barge open the door. I didn't have a lot of time left and I knew I had to find my pokemon quick. Suddenly, I noticed an odd box enclosed in the corner that was separated from the other pokeballs. I ran too it and opened it up to find a Pokemon Egg in it that was plain white except for weird triangle polka-dots decorated all over it. I picked up the Egg and wondered what Pokemon was in inside it and why it was in a room like this one. I quickly stuffed the Egg in my backpack. Suddenly, a thought struck my head. _My pokeballs were dirty!_ I began scanning around the pokeballs with newfound hope.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – Lost**

* * *

I found myself scurrying around the pokeballs as if my life depended on it. Each pokeball began mashing together in my mind and each failed attempt to find my dirt-ridden pokeballs just drove my concentration deeper and my motivation higher. _Don't worry everyone! I promise I'll find you! _Finally, I spotted three pokeballs that were covered in mud. I quickly picked up my pokeballs and hugged them. _My pokemon! _I summoned out Golbat while kicking down another shelf to barricade the door. I noticed the door was almost being ripped apart and I knew I had to make myself another exit. I pointed at a wall and commanded Golbat to break it down. Golbat successfully broke it down and I was happy to see that it leads to the outside. I ran outside instantly and noticed the coast was clear for now. I called back Golbat and stuffed my pokeballs back in my bag.

I looked around at the crowded Goldenrod City and was happy that it was flooded with people everywhere. I walked within the crowds and headed towards their famous department store. As I walked inside, I spotted Gary, clear as day, chatting with the department store clerk. My eyes widened as I ducked between some shelves in order to hide me. Right about the same time I ducked in-between the shelves, I noticed some undercover Team Rocket grunts walking into the department store searching for me. _It's just my luck to do this to me! _As I sat on the floor hiding from my two enemies, I couldn't help but listen in on the conversation between the store clerk and Gary.

"Did you know I was a top contestant in the Pokemon League in Kanto," He bragged to the female teenager.

The clerk smiled and leaned closer to Gary in wonder as he kept bragging to her about his "adventures" in Kanto. I rolled my eyes and felt annoyed at his weak attempt at flirting with her. _She's too old for you! Geez, Gary! _

"Got you!" A Team Rocket grunt yelled at he grabbed me in his arms.

My eyes widened and instinctively I kicked the grunt away while yelling out, "Get away from me you pervert!"

Everyone's eyes were on the two grunts, who were staring at me in horror. I began running off instantly as the crowd began taking care of the two grunts. I ran out of the department store and slowed down my pace by walking in order to catch my breath. I finally noticed that what I had done before had been a mistake when I was surrounded with Gary's Gengar using its Double Team. My eyes widened as I turned around to stare at Gary. His eyes were icy towards me as if they had no life in them. I wanted to reason with him, but as I was about to open my mouth to speak to him he snapped his fingers and his Gengar used its move Thief in order to snatch my backpack away while still preserving its Double Team attack.

"Liar. Liar." He spoke as Gengar threw my bag at him. "Never trust the words of a thief and a liar."

My eyes stared in horror as Officer Jenny came running in on her motorcycle along with a police car of other cops. _He called the cops on me! _I could feel the beat of my heart rise up as fear rose in me. Other emotions seemed to fill me to the core. Regret, fear, hurt, pain, those weren't the feelings that really bite into me. The one emotion that hit me the most was feeling betrayed as Gary held me captive using his Gengar as he had apparently called the cops earlier.

"How does it feel to be ratted out?" Gary spoke to me. "Don't give an expression like that; after all we weren't friends to begin with."

"You don't understand!" I screamed out at him. "You don't understand anything at all!"

I could feel my pulse racing as Police Officer Jenny was moving closer towards us. I couldn't get myself arrested now. I stood there my hands curled into fists and used the best of my effort not to cry. The effort was futile for my eyes cried anyway and it instantly turned into sobs. _Rayne, I'm sorry. _My life began to flash before my eyes. _My first steps in Johto…My first pokemon Weedle…My first PokeGear from Nurse Joy…Hanging out with Gary as Everett. _Every exciting moment was flashing before my eyes as if I had just reached the end of the line. The end of my life. The failure I felt at that moment was filling me like a deep dark void sucking me into its depths.

"I understand just fine!" He snapped. "I understand that if I let you run loose with Team Rocket you'll just end up hurting even more people."

"You don't," I sobbed. "Because if you did you would've realized that you were…"

Suddenly, I noticed a Psybeam hit the ground beside me. It missed my body by inches and I found myself falling to the ground. I quickly began dodging more Psybeam attacks and noticed it was coming from the Team Rocket grunts from earlier, hiding on the Goldenrod Department Store rooftop. My eyes widened as a Psybeam attack was aiming for Gengar. Gengar was confused from the sudden commotion of Psybeams coming from above and Gary was busy dodging the blasts himself. Without thinking, I shoved Gengar out of the way and allowed the Psybeam to hit my body. My whole body felt as if I was hit by lightning and I couldn't help but scream as the purplish glow covered my entire body. As the attack faded away, I felt something in me broke. Whether it was something physical, mental, or emotional I hadn't known at that moment. I just felt lifeless as I slowly began falling into the ground. My eyes were blurry, my hearing was deafening, and my body was paralyzed. For an actual moment there, I had felt like I had passed on to the next life. I noted a figure running toward me while screaming my name at the top of his lungs. Even in the midst of suffering, I could still identify Gary so easily. It was then at that exact moment as I impacted the ground that I had realized that what broke inside me was my denials, and what opened up to me was the my feelings of the truth.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Parents**

* * *

When I woke up, I found everything was fine. Rayne was setting the table with her usual smile sealed on her lips, and I found her staring at me for the longest time. I sighed relieved and hugged Rayne tightly in my arms unable to let her go.

"Rayne! I'm so glad!" I cried out. "Wow I just had the weirdest dream!"

Rayne didn't hug back. Rayne didn't say a word. She was just standing there lifeless in my arms.

"Rayne?" I asked while pulling back. "How come I can't feel you?"

I reached out my hand and was horrified to see that it had actually gone through her as if she was a ghost.

* * *

I opened my eyes and sat up immediately in bed. I breathed in heavily and realized that what I had witnessed was a nightmare. I noted I was back in another hospital room, same gown, same plain white walls; only difference was Gary was beside me sleeping on a chair at the edge of my bed. Wires were hooked up to my body again and I found I had an oxygen mask on my face. I looked beside me to see the machines ticking gently every second as it detected my heart rate. _Wow, how injured was I? _I stared at Gary sleeping soundly beside my bed. _Why is he here? _I looked at my hospital wristband and read the words "Goldenrod City Hospital" written on it. I felt relieved that I wasn't in jail and that I was even alive. I reached out in order to tap on Gary's shoulder, but I held myself back. Gary looked pale and thin as if he had just witnessed something traumatizing. _He needs the rest. _

I noticed my backpack resting beside my bed and placed it on my lap. Slowly, I unzipped the bag and found that nothing inside it had been tampered with. I pulled out the Pokemon Egg and began examining it again. The Egg wasn't making any movements and felt still. I placed my backpack back onto the floor and laid the Egg beside me. _I wonder what your parents were like. _I began caressing the egg slowly.

"When did you have a baby?" Gary asked as he yawned.

I jumped up to a sitting position and hid the Egg behind me.

"What egg?" I panicked. "I don't see an egg!"

He began laughing and I was glad to see his face liven up a little. I pulled out the Egg from behind me and placed it on my lap.

"How's Gengar?" I asked.

"He's fine," Gary replied as he sat on my bed staring at the Egg. "Did you steal this too?"

I felt annoyed at that comment.

"The only thing I 'stole' was that Magikarp from Professor Elm's lab," I snapped.

"So I'm guessing that's a yes," He replied in a know-it-all tone.

I sat up straighter as I glared at him. _Is he always going to assume the worse of me? _

"Personally," He laughed. "I'm glad you turned out to be a girl."

I looked at him puzzled while muffling a low "huh".

"I thought you were," He looked up in the air as if searching for words, "weird with the way you kept staring at me."

He began laughing while adding in the comment, "Now I know that you were just crushing on me."

My eyes widened up in surprised and instantly I defended myself, "Get over yourself! I'm not into any boys! Especially, boys that have a lame way of flirting!"

This escalated into an argument between Gary and me, and then I noticed something moving in my lap. I paused and stared down at the Egg while noticed it was twitching.

"Look Gary!" I pointed out while lifting the Egg in the air. "It's moving! It's moving!"

Gary moved to sit beside me, "For some odd reason that pattern looks familiar."

I stared at the Egg puzzled as it began moving side to side very rapidly. I had to tighten my grip around the Egg just so it wouldn't fall out of my hands. Finally, creases began to appear on the egg and little pieces of the egg began to pop out. What was strange was only the top of the egg was breaking not anywhere near the bottom. _What kind of pokemon is this? _Finally a white spiky head popped out of the top of the Egg and when it opened its eyes in a one shot picture it saw Gary and me at the same time.

"Toge. Toge. Togepi," It spoke for the first time while emphasizing the "pi".

"It hatched!" I cooed at Togepi. "She's so cute!"

Gary pulled out his Pokedex.

*"Togepi. The Egg Species Pokemon. It's a pokemon considered to bring about happiness and good luck. It is said that if you get a sleeping Togepi to stand up that it will bring your life filled with luxuries," the Pokedex replied after scanning Togepi. "It is also proven that Togepi will consider the first person it sees its mother."

"Congrats you a mother," Gary laughed as he stood up. "I better get the doctor."

Right before Gary was heading towards the door suddenly Togepi let out an ear-piercing cry. Gary instantly ran back beside me to let Togepi settle down.

"Correction," I replied while covering my ears. "Congrats you're a father."

Gary sighed as he picked up Togepi, but right before he left the room Togepi repeated the same thing again. Gary ran back beside me as I covered my ears and placed Togepi on its lap.

"What's wrong with her?" Gary asked while rubbing his ears.

"Do you think," I asked while staring at Togepi dancing, "she saw both of us at the same time?"

"How is it possible for her to see both of us at the same time?" Gary snapped with his know-it-all tone.

I sighed as I held Togepi in my arms. Then I realized how weird this situation was with us being so carefree as if nothing had ever happened.

"Why are you here?" I asked at him startled. "Don't you hate me?"

He leaned back up against the wall beside me.

"After a reckless move like that," he replied while laughing. "You expect me to hate you after you risked your life to save my Gengar?"

I smiled up at him and couldn't help but feel thankful for joining Team Rocket. _My life as a villain is now over. _

* * *

**Tidbits for this chapter of Acid**

_*The Pokedex reference was quoted from the Bulbapedia site._

_*This reference is also based on an episode from Season 1 of Pokemon where Togepi had seen Misty for the first time.  
_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Self Will**

* * *

The Doctor had decided that I needed a full week's rest at the Goldenrod City Hospital. That week had been filled with painstaking work. Our newly hatched Togepi was not letting up as she filled the rooms with another painstaking cry as Gary had to leave the room to do something. Being that Gary and I heard this cry many times during the week, we had somehow grown used to it. Togepi had made my week full of rest into a week filled with panic. She cried whenever she wanted something and would never provide a hint of what she wanted. This stubborn trait was the reason why Gary and I were always so panicked.

"Hush now Togepi you know he'll be back," I whispered in Togepi's ear as I cradled her in my arms.

From judging this week I saw that Togepi had three stages indicating that she was going to stop crying. The first stage was that her crying sound begins to decrease in sound, which was occurring now. I began humming my "sweet little Togepi" lullaby and that instantly brought her to her second stage which was now wiping her eyes continually while still sobbing. The third stage occurred instantly as she fell asleep in the blink of an eye. After a good cry, Togepi always fell asleep. I sighed in relief and laid back in order to relax.

"Who knew having a baby Pokemon is such work?" I muttered to myself.

Gary walked back in the room with the same bags under his eyes as I had. Togepi had exhausted us to the point where when we found out Togepi was asleep we take our places and fall asleep with her. Gary began rubbing his eyes as he sighed tiredly.

"Is Togepi finally asleep?" Gary asked with his voice losing its usual upbeat pitch.

I waved my arm in the air as my reply. Gary lies on the couch and fell asleep. We were supposed to leave earlier that morning, but Togepi had exhausted Gary to the point where he was willing to stay one more day. I slowly closed my eyes and began making a small prayer in my head. _Please Togepi…be easier to handle when we wake up. _

When I awoke an hour later, I felt my side was empty. I instantly sat up and stared around in horror as I found Togepi was missing. Gary was still sleeping soundly on the couch. I instantly called out my Pokemon and asked them to help me find Togepi. Kakuna began hopping around the room; Magikarp flopped under the bed to check, and Golbat flew around out the hospital room to search outside. _Togepi please be okay!_

I shook Gary awake as I cried out, "Togepi is missing!"

Gary's eyes spread wide open and he ran outside the hospital room. I began searching my hospital room thoroughly with Kakuna and Magikarp. Suddenly I heard Gary yell out for me outside. I slipped on my boots and returned Kakuna and Magikarp to their pokeballs as I ran outside. I saw Gary standing beside a sewer hole. I instantly stared horrified at him.

"Is my Togepi in there?" I cried out.

"I heard something in there, but I'm not sure if it's her," he sighed in distress.

I was ready to go down into the sewers when Gary held me back.

"It's dangerous to go down there! Are you insane?" He snapped at me. "We need to think this out!"

"My baby is in there and that's all you can say!" I snapped at him as I glared daggers right at him.

Suddenly I called out Magikarp into the sewer.

"Magikarp save my Togepi!" I yelled out into the hole with tears welling up in my eyes. "Please, I beg of you!"

Magikarp replied with its usual, "Karp, karp, karp."

The sewer was so dark that I couldn't even see where I had even put Magikarp. Gary sat beside me as he took me into his arms.

"She's going to be okay," he whispered in my ear. "Magikarp will find her."

_Please don't let me lose Togepi. _I wiped my eyes. _No I had to be brave. _Seconds past by then it turned into minutes. I kept playing with my hair as I was impatiently waiting for Magikarp to get back. Gary had went back to notify a Pokemon Center about the situation, so here I sat alone by myself. I began rocking myself, pacing back and forth, and finally just about ready to jump in the hole again until common sense stopped me. _I won't be good to anyone if I endanger myself. _I sighed as I sat back next beside the hole. Golbat flew and landed beside me. Its huge wings spread around me in a hug and I hugged her back.

I almost dived into the sewer hole again as I heard Magikarp utter its "Karp" to notify me it was in there. Golbat used its gust to blow me back and she flew in the hole. In a few seconds, Golbat came soaring out of the hole with Togepi on its back and Magikarp held by her legs. I grabbed Magikarp and Togepi from Golbat and hugged them both tightly. They smelled of course since they were in a sewer hole. Togepi began crying again and I could feel she was scared to death.

"Togepi don't run off like that again," I spoke to her as I hugged them both tightly.

I stared at Magikarp proudly and smiled the biggest grin I've ever had at him.

"Magikarp you were so brave. I'm so glad to have you as my friend," I complimented him.

Magikarp eyes seem to shine up at me and as it did its whole entire body began to glow. My eyes widened as Magikarp wrestled itself out of my arms and flopped around onto the floor. Gary came running in with Nurse Joy and all we could do was pause and stare as Magikarp evolved into a Gyarados. I stared up at Gyarados with a blank expression on my face as it was so big it blocked out the sun.

"G-G-Gyarados?" I called out at him astounded.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 – Gyarados' Tantrum  
**

* * *

I couldn't help, but be left at the mercy of my new gigantic Gyarados. He looked fearsome as he blocked out the sun and cast a long shadow onto its body. I almost wanted to get up to run away, but instead I stood up and made sure Golbat was beside me and Togepi was safely kept in my arms. If Gyarados was out of control, I had to stop him since he was my responsibility. Sweat began falling down my face as a few moments of awkward silence occurred. The silence was instantly broken as Gyarados lifted its head towards the sky and let out an ear-shattering roar. The roar was so loud and so powerful I covered myself and Togipi instantly as all the windows in the nearby location shattered to pieces.

"Irina!" Gary called out to me as he ran towards me.

Nurse Joy was holding him back by clinging onto his arm. Gyarados was out of control as it started pounding and swishing its body everywhere. The ground began to shake due to his immense power. Golbat flew up in the air and I made sure to give Togepi to Golbat.

"Golbat, make sure that Togepi and yourself are with Gary and Nurse Joy," I commanded as I attempted to stand up straight during this Earthquake move. "I'll try and calm down Gyarados."

Golbat nodded her head and flew straight to Gary and Nurse Joy. Finally the ground was stable again as Gyarados instead let out another roar. _Gyarados why are you so out of control? _Only a few days ago I had remembered I got my Magikarp and how sweet and thoughtful he was.

"Gyarados stop!" I yelled out at him hoping that would calm him down.

Gyarados did not stop, but continued thrashing and roaring about. I crawled onto the ground near Gyarados. Gary was yelling out something to me, but Gyarados' roar had overpowered any noise. I felt like I was riding a Wild Tauros as I climbed onto Gyarados' tail and attempted to reach his head. I held onto his shiny blue scales for dear life as he kept thrashing and swishing its tail side to side in rage. _How did it turn out like this? _I began recalling memories of when Gyarados was still a Magikarp. _Will you never act like that again? Did you forget we were even friends? _I felt my eyes begin to water as I climbed up Gyarados' back slowly. Gyarados didn't seem to even notice my presence as it kept continuing his tantrum. I continued climbing until finally I reached Gyarados' head and held on to one of the top major scales up there.

"Gyarados!" I shouted. "It's me Irina! Don't you remember?"

Gyarados' tantrum began to settle down a tad bit and I knew he could hear my voice.

"Gyarados you need to calm down! Why are you doing this Gyarados?" I began shouting out.

Finally Gyarados ceased his tantrum, and stood in place almost as if he had been frozen. I sighed in relief and sat down on top of his head.

"You must've been scared," I patted his head. "Suddenly evolving like that and growing so big."

Gyarados seemed to lift its head in a nod and I quickly held onto his scale in order to not fall off.

"I think maybe we should let me off now," I replied quickly as Gyarados lowered its head in order for me to jump off.

Gary ran to me with Togepi in his arms and Golbat flying behind him. I quickly called Golbat in her pokeball.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" He yelled at me. "Do you realize how stupid climbing onto Gyarados' back was? You could've gotten hurt again! Do you enjoy being in the hospital?"

"Gyarados is my responsibility," I pointed out. "I had to calm him down no matter what it took!"

"Well you're my responsibility because you can't seem to take care of yourself!" He snapped while emphasizing the "my".

I stared up at him in surprise. _When did I become "his" responsibility and when did I become some little girl who couldn't take care of herself? _I mistook his statement and began arguing with him. Nurse Joy came in-between us and began using her arms to separate us away from each other. She sighed as she began explaining that she would need to take a look at Gyarados and in the meantime we should calm ourselves in separate locations. I grabbed Togepi from him and walked into the Pokemon Center while expressing a "humph" to Gary as I left him standing there. _He can annoy himself while he's at it. _I sat down on a bench in the Pokemon Center and began wondering how exactly a person would take care of a Gyarados. An image of my head of being poor out of my mind erupted as I realized that Gyarados would need to eat about a bowl the size of me in Pokemon Food and probably twice that much in medicine and other necessities. I sighed exhausted.

"Well Rayne," I sighed as I spoke to myself. "Looks like I'm going to have more help than I thought rescuing you."

"Who's Rayne?" Gary asked as he sat beside me.

I looked at him annoyed," When did you get here? Weren't we supposed to be cooling off in 'separate' places?"

"I'm afraid if I do that you might do something idiot like join up with Team Rocket again or climb up a Gyarados' back!" He snapped.

He calmed his expression and began apologizing," Sorry I was just worried about you, okay? Now who is Rayne?"

My eyes begin to narrow and I sat up straighter than usual while hugging Togepi. The memory of Rayne was almost too painful for me and since I hadn't spoke of her in ages I had already felt my eyes water. I gulped as I tried to pull myself together in order to tell Gary the story.

"You see Rayne was my…" I paused as I stared outside to see Team Rocket attempting to steal my Gyarados. "My Gyarados!"

Gary and I instantly ran outside and summoned our Pokemon. Nurse Joy was laying on the ground unconscious as Team Rocket was using a helicopter in order to try to net my Gyarados. I called out Golbat and made her use his Air Cutter in order release the net from Gyarados. Gary called out his Gengar and made Gengar use his Shadow Ball on the helicopter. The helicopter began bobbing back and forth unstably as if it was going to crash. I instantly got out my Pokeball and called Gyarados back inside it. The helicopter hit the ground and let out a huge explosion as it crashed. Gary and I hit the ground and I curled up in order to protect Togepi. _Why was Team Rocket here?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 – Dirty Sunset**

* * *

It smelled like freshly dug dirt. The air was smoky as if the dirt decided to cloud the sky and the world. The small fragile breaths I took made time feel like an eternity as I reached towards Gary. He was unconscious and just as injured as I was. He looked solemn as he laid there with his body lying beside me with only a few inches being the only gap between us. Togepi was crying now, with the same sobs he had always made when he was scared.

"Gary!" I screamed as I tried to reach for his arm.

A huge pressure suddenly fell upon my chest. My heart seemed to sink down inside as I noticed how pale Gary's face was. My tears began to water as I began muttering the words, "No...No...No..." I felt pain all over my body, but it was considerably small compared to the sinking feeling in my heart. Weakly, I crawled to him through the dirt cloud. The sun was setting by now which made the dirt cloud make the sky a dirty brown when mixed into the vivid red and orange colors of the sun. It represented how I felt. Dirty. I began to sob as I finally got to Gary. I placed my head on his chest while making a silent prayer.

"Please...Please..." I sobbed as I clenched my fists on his chest. "Be alright. Be okay. Be anything, but gone."

I felt a gentle touch on my head and I looked immediately at Gary. He was not moving and I instantly looked behind me trying to reassure myself he was joking with me. Gary was okay and he was the one touching me. Instead I saw _her_. Lavender-hair smiled down at me and began to laugh.

"I can make your wish come true my dear Irina," she snickered. "All you have to do is surrender yourself to me."

I snapped at her with rage building up within me, "I am not leaving Gary for you!"

"You can and you will," she smirked as she struck my breaking point. "Unless…you don't wish to see your darling Rayne."

My eyes widened as I began to stutter, "R-Ra-Rayne?"

"I can take you to where she is," Lavender began to walk around me. "I can reunite you to your dear Rayne. I can make your goals become reality. All you need to do..."

She kneeled down towards me while giving me that sweet sinister look as she continued to speak, "Is surrender yourself to Team Rocket once again."

I felt my whole life flash before my eyes. My life experiencing friendship, fun, and love with Gary. My whole entire life with Rayne and living together in our home. The misery and guilt I faced when Team Rocket took her. My Rayne. The whole entire reason I met Gary, my whole purpose of running away from home, joining team rocket, and getting myself in this trouble. I tried to regain myself as I stared at the unconscious Gary. If I rejoined Team Rocket, he would never forgive me again. I would never be able to meet him in the same light again. I never intended on growing to like this arrogant, loud-mouth, irritating boy, but I did. I had loved Gary in a time when it was a strict "no". I remembered Rayne's voice echoing in my head. The last words I heard from her were replaying in my head over and over.

"Irina! Don't run in there!" Rayne was screaming as the airport exploded.

The memory was so chilling...so haunting...it returned tears to my eyes. I cleared my mind and stared at Gary with my heart filled with regret. I knew that in the future when I looked back at this moment I would always wonder "what if". Rayne needed me. She was waiting for me to rescue her. I clenched my fists together as I wiped my eyes.

"Fine I'll go with you!" I sobbed. "Please just promise me...You'll leave Gary alone. Please, I am already going to betray him enough. Please, just leave him alone."

Lavender stared at me in surprise as she slowly stood up. She replied with a nod as she held her arm out for me to follow her. The dirt cloud began to expand as a team rocket helicopter flew right above us. A straw ladder was thrown down for Lavender and me to climb up it. Lavender climbed up the ladder first and stared down at me to make sure I was upholding my end of the deal. Right when I touched the ladder, Togepi jumped into my arms.

"Please Togepi," I pleaded while I held him in my arms. "Stay with Gary."

Togepi shook its head no while showing his determination to stay with me. I could not allow Togepi to get wrapped up in my mess. I quickly placed Togepi on Gary's unconscious body then returned to face the rope ladder. Right when my fingertips gently touched the smooth silk of the ladder, I heard a voice behind me.

"Irina…" Gary spoke weakly. "What are you doing?"

I clenched my eyes tight as I climbed the ladder hurriedly. _Hate me please. Hate me and think horribly of me. This is the only way I can get over you. _I heard Gary screaming out my name while having a coughing fit. As I took my steps into the helicopter, I stared back at the dirty sunset with tear-filled eyes.

"Goodbye, Gary Oak," I whispered as the helicopter began to ascend into the air.

As the helicopter ascended, I felt my life descend into the bottomless pits of the dirty sunset. _Rayne, I'm coming to see you. Just hold on!_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – Reunited**

* * *

I was holding onto the railing inside the helicopter as I stared out into the sky. I wondered what it would have been like if I had told Lance the truth instead of ran away from home. As the sound of the swishing blades of the helicopter kept repeating itself in an endless cycle, I remembered the voice Lance had on the phone when I lied to him. I had all these repeated old images in my head playing over and over as if trying to point out everything I could have done right. In truth, I knew if I had simply told Lance the truth then Rayne would be home right now by my side. _I was only being stubborn and selfish. _I punched the wall of the helicopter as if that could stop all my misery that I was in. _Why didn't I just tell Lance? _I began to replay my whole adventure with Gary. The first time I met Weedle appeared in my mind, and how precious that moment was. _Sure, Weedle was not a Dragon-type pokemon and my family would be shocked I chose that over a Dragon-type pokemon, but I love Weedle._ It was then that I realized why I set out on this adventure. _I wanted to rescue Rayne with my own strength and will. _This situation was created by me and me alone and I was going to fix it by myself with all the power I had in me.

_I couldn't trust Team Rocket. I needed a real plan. _I turned around while slowly letting go of the railing as I tried to assess what I had to deal with. Lavender had some electronic tool in her hand and was fiddling around with a component for some device. Her face was cringed in concentration as if this chip was something very valuable to her. _Perfect. _I began getting a general idea of what I was going to do in order to save Rayne. I turned to see the pilot. The pilot had a Team Rocket cap on, along with a mask to cover his face. He was only a grunt judging by the uniform. _Easy to take down! _I casually moved my way to Lavender and sat beside her cross-legged. She seemed startled when I finally spoke to her, "What is your name?"

She seemed to jump a little in surprise as she stared wide-eyed at me and responded, "Why do you want to know that now?"

"I was thinking of just calling you Lavender, because you never told me your name," I blinked innocently.

"It is Lavender. Ironic, huh?" She began fiddling with the component again.

"What is that for?" I asked while picking up a wrench from out of the toolbox.

"It's for our boss. He's building a machine that can help us catch rare talents and brainwash them to work for us," She began laughing as she continued to mess with the chip.

My eyes widened as she said that. _Rayne! _

"Wait," I began to play innocent, "but won't you need someone to test this machine?"

Lavender smirked as I said that statement, "Yes and we already have our test subject."

"You did promise to take me to Rayne, right?" I reminded her.

She began laughing as she placed the component in the toolbox. She immediately put a padlock on the tool box and quickly stood up. I felt the helicopter slowly descend and realized we were already at Team Rocket headquarters. I felt uneasy and quickly held onto the railing as I stood up.

"Don't worry," she smirked at me. "I'll take you to your darling Rayne."

When the helicopter landed, she grabbed her toolbox and immediately hopped out of the helicopter along with the grunt. I slowly jumped off the helicopter and began counting the seconds until I could see Rayne. _One_… Lavender entered headquarters with the grunt walking beside her. I focused on the toolbox she was holding and was bracing myself for the worst. _Two_... We seemed to walk down a long hallway for eternity as she paused in front of a huge metal door. _Three… _Lavender opened the door and revealed a gigantic ray gun pointing at a tall figure strapped to a metal table. My eyes widened as I saw Rayne laying there unconscious with bruises and injuries on her. Her piercing red eyes closed with her long black hair covering her face. She looked as if she had been fighting the whole time I was searching for her. I began to shake as I stared at my older sister. She was only a few feet in front of me, yet it felt like light years apart. My eyes began to water as I screamed out her name, "Rayne!"

Lavender laughed as she stared at me. She snapped her fingers and a cage fell from the ceiling and trapped me inside it. I clung to the bars and began shaking it while screaming out Rayne's name over and over. I hoped she could hear me.

"You monsters!" I screamed as I began to sob. "What did you do to Rayne?"

"Is it that tragic?" Lavender laughed. "I think she looks better with that beaten look."

I fell to my knees and continued screaming to Rayne, but nothing came out of it. It reminded me of the nightmare I had awhile back. I was reaching out to her, but she was not moving. She was lying there as if all the fight within her was gone.

"Now witness what Team Rocket can really do, Irina!" Lavender laughed as she placed the component inside the machine.

The grunt merely stood there leaning beside the doorway. I stared at the grunt and tried to plead with him.

"Please! She can't take anymore! Please let her go!" I sobbed. "Let my sister go!"

The grunt didn't even acknowledge my existence. He merely stood there and watched how the whole scene played out. Lavender turned the machine on and within a matter of seconds a blast of light took hold of my sister. Rayne was surrounded in this dark red aura and it began to consume her. She screamed repeatedly as the light continued to have its way with her.

"Rayne!" I screamed while sobbing.

_Would I really be able to save Rayne now?_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 – The Past**

* * *

Lavender laugh seemed to echo throughout the room as she pulled out a pokeball and glared at me.

"Did you think I would be so kind as to hand her over so easily?" She began laughing hysterically as she threw the pokeball at the ground. "Vileplume! Let's teach this little traitor the meaning of pain."

The room seemed to light up as her Vileplume appeared. The Vileplume reflected her master's personality; vain and selfish. I was panicking and frantic. I couldn't think straight as all my thoughts turned to Rayne and how helpless I was to stop her from being taken over by Team Rocket. Unfortunately, panicking made the situation worse. Suddenly, an ugly green liquid was being squirted all over my body. I began coughing out the liquid and froze in fear as I realized what it was.

"Did you enjoy my Vileplume's acid attack?" Lavender asked as she walked towards me with a huge smirk on her face. "Oh, don't worry. I am not going to kill you. Yet, that is."

I glared at her as I felt the acid burn through my skin. I started to scream out in pain. I stared at Rayne in horror to see how Rayne's eyes were black, as if her soul had no control of her body. I slipped my arm through a small opening in the bars in order to reach toward Rayne. I wanted to somehow fit through these slim bars to hug her, tell her I missed her, and to get out of here. I closed my eyes as the pain of my skin burning and tearing apart was felt everywhere the acid touched.

"Rayne," I managed to whisper.

The pain from the acid attack was so unbearable that I slowly slipped out of consciousness without even realizing it. It was during that time, however, that I had a flashback of what happened to Rayne and me before this whole mess started.

"Rayne!" I whined as I tugged at her jacket sleeve. "I want to go back to the Johto region!"

Rayne stared at me with a stern look to calm me down, "Irina, we discussed this before. You are to attend the private school in Rustboro City."

I stood in place and glared right up at her, "Lance never had to go to school!"

Rayne laughed as I mentioned our cousin's name. She bent down to my eye level in order to respond, "Well, you know as well as I do that Lance was talented even when he was your age."

"Why can't I train in the Dragon's Den like Lance did?" I snapped. "I want to be in the action! I don't want to go to school that's boring!"

Rayne sighed as she stood up straight and started messing with my hair, "Irina, I want you to experience your own adventure. You shouldn't chase after the same path Lance did, because life isn't lined up so nicely for everyone. You need to discover yourself on your own. This is why I want you to attend school and meet friends. When you finish school, then you can decide if you want to follow in Lance's footsteps, alright?"

I growled as I listened to her speech. She had said the same speech many times before when we had brought this up.

"You know our parents would've liked this," She pointed out.

I was about to speak in response, but a flashback of the St. Anne struck my mind, which made me feel frozen inside. My hands curled into tiny fists as I remembered our parents and what had happened to them on the St. Anne. The St. Anne was a luxury cruise liner that my parents vacationed in. If only our parents knew that Team Rocket also decided to vacation on the very same ship. Team Rocket caused a huge uproar on the ship, and in the end of that commotion, the ship sank. Our parents had sunk with it. They had been trapped in their cabin by a pillar that blocked their door. When the rescue team had told us the news, everything felt wrong. Parents were supposed to grow up with you and lecture you if you do something wrong. Now, my parents were gone. It ached in me that I would never hear their voices again or feel the warmth when they kissed or hugged me. I missed them. I stared up at Rayne with wide eyes and immediately I held her hand in order to imply that I agreed with her.

At the time, we were in Saffron City in the Kanto region. We had been in that region in order to visit our parent's graves, which were in Lavender Town. It had taken all my willpower not to cry, but just standing in the Magnet Train Station made me feel the same quiver I had when I heard the news of my parent's death. After the incident with our parents, Rayne and I made it a tradition to come to the Kanto region once every year in order to visit their graves. If we only had known that Team Rocket would rip apart our family once again.

Right when Rayne and I boarded the magnet train, it was ambushed. It was bad luck for us that one of the Team Rocket Grunts recognized Rayne from previous a mission when she had helped out Lance. They used me as a hostage in order to get Rayne to willingly go with them. It was a traumatizing experience as she paused by the doorway of the train and tilted her neck back in order to smile at me.

"I felt horrible for leaving you all alone. Every time I left on a mission with Lance, I remember you would always call out my name to come with me," She spoke as the grunt kept tugging at her to move along. "Irina, I'm sorry if you ever felt lonely."

I shook my head in response while tears strung down my face, "I was never alone! Even when mom and dad died I was never alone! I was never alone, because I had you, Rayne! I had you! Rayne!"

Rayne stared at me for an instant as if she was shocked by my statement, but she stared straight ahead and let the grunt move her away, "You are right. You are never alone, Irina. Keep it that way."

_You are never alone. _That statement seemed to trigger something within me. My eyes flung open, but they cringed as I noticed a bright red light was shining in front of my face. I tried to move my arms and legs, but realized that they were chained to a cold metal surface.

"She's awake, ma'am!" I heard Rayne call out to another person.

"Good," Lavender replied while moving to stand beside me. "Irina, I am glad you are awake! Now you can join your sister and be a mind-slave for our beloved organization!"

_Crap! _They had placed me in the same situation as they had with Rayne earlier. They were attempting to make me a mind-slave just as they did with Rayne. I felt a stinging pain throughout the places in my body where the acid had touched me earlier. I wondered how my body was still intact instead of heavily damaged.

"Why am I still alive?" I asked Lavender. "Shouldn't I have died from the acid?"

"You can't work for Team Rocket if you're dead," Lavender laughed. "I gave you the antidote right after you fainted. You were too ugly to look at with all those acid scars so I gave you some of Team Rocket's skin grafts."

"Skin grafts?" I echoed, confused.

"You don't want to know," She shook her head looking pained.

"I want to know what you freaks did to my body!" I shouted.

"In short, I replaced your skin," She sighed while she started pushing buttons on the machine. "Well, more of cloned it. I seriously didn't want to replace your skin the old fashioned way and I didn't want to give orders to a scarred looking little girl."

I tried to get a better look at my surroundings, but the bright red light was too intense for my eyes to handle so I mainly kept them closed. I could hear Rayne helping Lavender out with the preparations in order to zombify me. I sighed as I tried to think of a way to get out of this. _You are never alone. _I wondered why that statement was echoing throughout my head, and then I noticed a bulge in my pocket. I froze for an instant and felt the impression of a tiny pokeball in my skirt pocket. _Gyarados! _Rayne had been right, I truly was never alone!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – The True Meaning of Never**

* * *

_Gyarados! _My mind seemed to scream out as I tried to wiggle my pokeball out of my pocket. I could feel my heart drum out of my chest as I continually attempted to get it out. Lavender and Rayne were discussing another mission at the moment as the machine was powering itself up to zombify me. I could gradually hear the machine count the percentages down until it was ready to shoot its red laser beam at me.

"60 percent," The machine announced.

This only gave me more reason to work faster. I made a swift movement and the pokeball landed on the floor without popping out Gyarados. _Shoot! What now? _Suddenly, I noticed a shadow being cast upon me. I opened my eyes a little bit to find the grunt from earlier staring directly at me. _Why was he this close to me? _The grunt looked over at Lavender's direction for a split second then discreetly bent down in order to get my pokeball. _Crap! He saw me try to call out Gyarados! _To my shock, he dropped the pokeball for me. My eyes widened in confusion as the grunt made an act of pretending to be thwarted by me. _Who is this man? _

"Gyarados! Destroy that machine using Giga Impact!" I commanded.

In order to prevent me from destroying the machine, Lavender didn't even hesitate to call out her Vileplume.

"Vileplume! Paralyze that beast using your Stun Spore!" She yelled as she tried to run over and grab the pokeball off the ground.

Within a few seconds, the entire left side of the room had exploded. When the dust cleared, Gary was standing there with his faithful Gengar at his side.

"Gary!" I screamed out feeling relieved. "How did you find me?"

The Team Rocket Grunt karate kicked Lavender away from my pokeball. He took off his mask to reveal that he was none other than my cousin Lance.

"Irina, we can talk later," Lance spoke in Gary's stead as he called out his Dragonite.

"Rayne! Get rid of Lance's Dragonite!" Lavender commanded.

Rayne did as she commanded and brought out her Flygon in order to clash head on with Lance's Dragonite. Gary immediately ran to me and destroyed the machine using Gengar's Shadow Ball. The shackles that kept me bound to the metal surface released me. Right when I was released, I pounced on Gary and embraced him. I almost wanted to cry at that moment, but I suppressed it. We were in the middle of a battle and I couldn't afford to show any weakness. Gary hesitantly hugged me back.

"Irina, call back Gyarados. I'll fight off Lavender's Vileplume," He spoke.

"No," I replied while standing up to face Lavender in combat. "I am never going to forgive her for what she did to Rayne!"

Lavender gestured to the yellow pollen all over Gyarados' body. _Crap, she stunned my pokemon!_ Gary threw my bag at me.

"You seemed to have forgotten this," He smiled at me. "I'm sure Kakuna is missing some action."

I nodded at him.

"Gyarados, return!" I picked up my pokeball in order for Gyarados to return to it. "Kakuna, I choose you!"

The familiar flashing white light revealed my Kakuna. Lavender began laughing as she pointed towards my pokemon.

"You seriously believe that a Kakuna is going to beat my Vileplume!" She laughed. "You are crazy! Vileplume, finish that thing off with Petal Dance."

A sweet scent filled the air as Vileplume summoned out a dozen beautiful pink rose petals to float all around its body. It danced beautifully as it tried to lure Kakuna into letting his guard down, but I knew that move. I had seen it plenty of times on television to know how truly lethal it was. Lavender believed she had won, based on the triumphant look on her face, but I knew my Kakuna. I knew my Weedle. Suddenly, Vileplume's petals instantly turned razor sharp and were flying at Kakuna like darts being thrown at a wall.

"Harden!" I responded and witnessed the petals flying off of Kakuna's armor.

Lavender gritted her teeth as she responded for Vileplume to continue its attack again. I concentrated patiently as I kept attempting to her block her moves with Harden in order to reduce the damage on Kakuna. Lavender had lost her patience and began yelling at Vileplume to get rid of Kakuna. Vileplume dropped down its guard and left its face wide open.

"Bug bite, Kakuna!" I yelled out and watched as Kakuna launched at Vileplume and began using its tiny, hidden mouth to painfully latch onto Vileplume's face.

Vileplume had tried everything to get Kakuna off its face and began running around in circles and even reducing itself to use stun spore on its very own face. By the time Kakuna let go, Vileplume had paralyzed itself.

"Tackle attack!" I commanded and within a few seconds the battle was over.

Lavender's face turned blank in misbelief. She had just witnessed a Kakuna beat her powerful Vileplume.

"No way in hell," She gritted her teeth. "I am never going to accept defeat from a weak bug pokemon!"

She grabbed a pokeball from her belt and returned Vileplume to its resting place. She smirked as she grabbed two pokeballs in her other hand and threw them in the air to reveal Golbat and Mightyena. Togepi leaped out of Gary's backpack and stood beside Kakuna ready to fight. A look of horror fell on my face as I glared at Gary, "Call Togepi back! She's just a baby!"

Gary shrugged as if to indicate he had no control over the matter. I sighed in defeat as I prepared to have a double team showdown with Lavender. Golbat used its Haze attack in order to shroud the whole area in a thick black mist. When the mist cleared, Mightyena was in the air before me ready to hit me with its Take Down attack. My eyes widened in shock at what was going on and I brought my arms to my head in order to prepare for the impact. I then noticed a shining white light jump up in the air in order to block Mightyena's attack.

"Kakuna!" I screamed as I saw it transform into its final evolution stage, Beedrill.

Lavender smirked almost as if she was expecting this to happen, "Hyper beam!"

Mightyena began glowing in a bright light as it prepared to clash with Beedrill.

"Togepi!" I pointed towards Mightyena. "Metronome!"

Togepi concentrated as it wiggled its little hands back and forth in a waving motion. Finally, she held her hands toward each other and within a matter of seconds a green ball of light began to take form in her hands. Beedrill immediately flew towards my side as Mightyena's hyper beam and Togepi's Solar Beam clashed. The attacks were so powerful that the entire room lit up in a mixture of a white and light green glow. _Which beam would prevail? Togepi's or Mightyena's? _


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22 – Rescuing Rayne**

* * *

When the flash from the blast faded away, Togepi and Mightyena were standing face to face with each other. They were both heavily injured and taking heavy breaths. Mightyena took one tiny step and fainted in front of Togepi. Relief swept across Togepi's face as she witnessed Mightyena collapse to the ground, and in turn, she herself fainted. I ran to Togepi and cradled her in my arms. I smiled down at her with teary eyes.

"You are the bravest baby ever," I spoke while I wiped my eyes.

Lavender was slightly injured from the recent blast and looked extremely pale as she called Mightyena back in its pokeball.

"Rayne! We are getting rid of this twerp right here and now!" Lavender yelled out in rage.

Rayne responded to her command instantly and ran to stand beside her. Flygon flew into the air and took its place beside Lavender's Golbat. Beedrill flew in front of me in its battle stance as Lance attempted to run towards me in order to join the double team battle. Gary decided to take Lance's place beside me instead.

"No," Gary spoke towards Lance. "I want to be Irina's partner."

"Gary I don't think…" I started to say, but was interrupted by Gary.

"That's exactly it. You **don't **think!" He glared at me. "I don't understand how you can irritate me so much. You used me, tricked me, tried to steal from me, and worse, you betrayed me!"

"Then why are you beside me?" I replied, feeling stung from his words.

"Because this is where I'm meant to be," He retorted as his Gengar took his place beside my Beedrill. "My place is beside you so I can make sure you never almost die on me again! So I never have to worry about you again! From now on, whether you like it or not, I am going to be here by your side to protect you until you learn to think!"

I stared at him wide-eyed, not knowing whether to take his statement as a confession or an insult, "Gary Oak! Since you signed yourself up to stand beside me from now on, then I swear that I am going to make your life hell from this day forward! I am going to purposely make you worry, irritate you, and worse, make sure you never have room to think! You won't even have time for any other girlfriends other than me! I hope you enjoy this ride, because I am going to make sure you thoroughly regret it!"

"Believe me, I will enjoy it!" He stared at me with a small smile at his lips.

I blushed for a moment and returned my attention back to the battlefield. In shock, I found a pale-looking Lavender, a curious Lance, and a zombified Rayne staring at us in interest. When I felt a flush in my cheeks, I noticed a smirk appear on Lavender's and Rayne's face while Lance tried to withhold his laughter. I began not only feeling irritated, but embarrassed.

"Quit staring at us!" I snapped, feeling embarrassed. "Let's battle."

Lavender began the battle with a swift flash of her arm to point towards my Beedrill.

"You are going down, Beedrill!" She yelled as she commanded her Golbat. "Double team!"

Within a matter of seconds, Golbat transformed itself to make two clones of it. _No, three clones of it. No, five clones of it._ _Crap, how many Golbats does she need? _Rayne followed Lavender's technique by using the move Sand Storm. The field turned into a desert paradise as sand began to form on the floor and rain down from the opened area of the demolished wall in the room. This made it almost impossible to locate the real Golbat and where Flygon hid itself beneath the sand. I looked at Gary with a worried expression on my face. I sighed as I noticed Gary's concentration on the battle field. He was figuring out a way to get past their defenses, and I realized I needed to do the same. I began scanning their surroundings and noticed that when Flygon appeared from the sand, it was in full view when it attacked my Beedrill. When it hid itself back into the sand, it was safe to avoid our attacks. _I have an idea. _I immediately stared at Gary to see if he had any way to get past Golbat's double team. By the look in Gary's eyes, I instantly knew he had a plan.

"Beedrill! Poison Jab!" I commanded as Flygon came out of the sand in order to attack.

Beedrill quickly attacked the shocked Flygon with its toxic stingers. Not only was Flygon injured on its tail, but it was poisoned, making it unable to dig another hole in the ground. Gengar managed to eliminate Golbat's Double Team by putting it to sleep using its Hypnosis attack. I noticed Lavender on her end of the field glaring at Rayne. _No doubt, she's blaming my sister for her stupid mistake! _I stared at my sister on the other end. I sighed and realized that I not only had to win this battle, but I had to win Rayne back. _I don't want her to be a zombie forever. _I stared at her Flygon and remembered something Rayne had showed me with another pokemon she used to train. _That's it! That's how I can get through to her! _

"Flygon," Rayne commanded as she pointed towards my Beedrill. "Dragon Claw."

"Confuse ray!" Gary countered as Gengar instantly used its ray to confuse Flygon.

"Now, Beedrill! Use Venoshock!" I pointed towards Flygon. "Rayne! This is the move you taught me and now I hope that this move will wake you up!"

Beedrill immediately had multiple purple light orbs surrounding it and then launched the orbs to critically hit Flygon one by one until finally Flygon fainted from the sheer power of these toxic orbs. I noticed throughout the whole attack that Rayne's eyes were steady when she witnessed the move. They were focused on the move, but unfortunately there was no life in those eyes. _What is it going to take for me to get through to her? _Gary finished the battle by having Gengar use Shadow Punch. Suddenly, a piece of the ceiling collapsed in front of us and the building started to crumble. Explosions could be heard echoing through other parts of the building. _The pokemon battles are going to make the building collapse! _I immediately stuffed Togepi in my bag and returned Beedrill to his pokeball. Everyone seemed to follow the warning signs and started gathering their pokemon and their stuff and running outside, except Rayne. Rayne merely stood there in the destruction gazing at the ceiling. My eyes widened in horror as I glared at Lavender.

"Command her to get out of there!" I snapped.

"I did!" She replied looking irritated. "She isn't listening to me anymore!"

I handed my bag to Gary and began running back into the crumbling building.

"Rayne!" I yelled at her as I held her hand securely in mine. "Let's go."

Rayne didn't make a single motion at all.

"How's mom and dad going to feel if you are up there with them?" I started to sob. "How do you think I'm going to feel if you don't move? Rayne, snap out of it!"

A hint of red flashed in Rayne's eyes and she slowly began to look at me. _Is she taking control of her body again? _I stared at her curiously as she continued to stare at me with hints of red flashing in her black zombified eyes. Chunks of the ceiling were beginning to fall around us and I was worried that it would fall on us next. I tried to yank Rayne's arm in order to move her, but she remained as still as a statue and wouldn't budge. Gary suddenly threw my PokeGear at me. When I caught it, I stared at him in confusion.

"My gut told me to give it to you!" He yelled out towards me.

I stared at Rayne and realized that maybe there was an off-chance that the Poke Flute channel might unzombify her. Without hesitating, I quickly tried to turn on the radio and to my relief I could hear the usual sounds of white noise. I began switching the channels and finally found the Poke Flute channel. I raised the volume up to high in hopes that Rayne could be her usual self again. The music filled our ears while destruction was all around us. I noticed Rayne begin to gradually move her fingers or move her head to stare at other directions, but her eyes were still black. Her eyes were still lifeless. I sighed in defeat. _Well, Rayne isn't a pokemon of course this wouldn't work on her. _Suddenly, a huge chunk of the ceiling had collapsed in front of us. A containment tank had fallen over by the hole in the ceiling, and soon enough, a waterfall of acid was going to pour all over us in a matter of moments. _We're going to die._

…To be continued…


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23 – It's Over**

* * *

Fear surged through my entire body as I witnessed a flood of acid falling right at us. _We__'__re__ going__ to__ die._ All my efforts, adventures, and new memories were flashing before my eyes in a sequence that only I could understand and interpret. I attempted once again to pull Rayne out of the way, using every muscle in my body. I tugged and pulled until my hands and arms felt sore from the sheer force of trying to budge her. Rayne still was not responding to my efforts as the acid horrifyingly began to rain down upon us. _No, __I __am __not __losing __anyone __again!_

"Rayne!" I screamed as I used all my strength to finally shove her out of the way of the acid rain.

I closed my eyes quickly and braced myself for the impact of pain from the acid, but instead I felt warm arms wrap around me with a loud buzzing noise and an ear-pitching scream filling all my senses.

"Irina! Are you alright?" Gary spoke weakly as he tightly squeezed me to his chest.

"The acid…." I pleaded for him to release me. "The acid!"

"Shh…." He whispered as he struggled to laugh. "The acid is over with now."

Tears streamed down my cheeks, "The acid rained down on you! Don't you dare tell me to shush! You should've left me there! You should've…."

"For… Pete's sake! Don't start crying now Irina. Don't… cry…." he whispered to me as his arms loosened up, feeling lifeless against me.

"Gary?" I spoke, hoping to hear his voice again.

There was silence in the room as I slowly opened my eyes. Gary's eyes were closed solemnly, and they had an almost eerie feeling about them. My heart seemed to have been frozen in time as I stared at the boy before me. I began to shake him repeatedly with every part of my being wanting him to wake back up.

"Gary! Gary! Please! Don't! Gary! Wake up…. Don't die on me, Gary! Gary!" I sobbed as I laid my head against his chest. "You idiot! Don't say you aren't going to leave my side and pull a stunt like this! Gary… Gary… Gary!"

A buzzing sound near me droned slowly and I looked up in horror to find Beedrill laying in a puddle of acid, covered in it and using all its will just to crawl towards me using its twin needles. I reached over for Beedrill while screaming his name repeatedly. I wanted this to be some sort of nightmare. _No__…__please__…__no__…__not__ this__…__not __this__…__why__ couldn__'__t __this __have __been __me?__ Why?_ My heart plummeted as Beedrill collapsed right on Gary's arm.

"Beedrill!" I screamed with all my might, and with all my soul, as I attempted to wake them both up. "Don't leave me! Please, anything but this! Don't go! Don't leave me! Please give them back to me!"

* * *

For a split moment, I felt like the entire world was melting away as a fuzzy memory of myself appeared within my mind.

"Rayne," I wept in front of our parent's grave. "What are we going to do? What are we going to do? I want mommy and daddy back!"

Rayne lovingly wrapped her warm arms around me in an attempt to comfort me.

"We'll figure things out, Irina. Don't worry. No matter what, I won't let anything happen to you, alright?" she whispered in my ear.

"What about you?" I sobbed. "Who won't let anything happen to you?"

"Why, you of course!" she chuckled. "Unless you don't want to protect me?"

"What can I do?" I shrugged miserably. "I haven't even gotten my first pokemon."

"Irina," Rayne pulled back and bent down to stare at me eye-to-eye. "You can do anything you put your mind to it. You are one stubborn little girl and I know nothing can stop you when you want something really badly!"

"I want mom and dad alive! I want it so badly! Yet… they aren't here," I snapped. "They aren't here!"

"But we're here," she gestured to the both of us. "That is what counts and from now on we need to protect each other. I need you, Irina, and I am sure that you will have the will, the want, and the need to make anything you put your mind to come alive."

* * *

_Rayne was right._

"I will save them both!" I yelled out firmly as I stood up.

I began to sob, "I am going to save them! I will save them! And then we'll travel together," I began to weep some more. "Make new memories together! I'll see Gary challenge the Johto Pokemon League and Beedrill will finally get to see where I live and… and…." I fell to my knees and started weeping as this overwhelming feeling of loss and resolve surged through me. "We'll be happy!"

The realization that my two best friends lay before me, covered in acid, only made my determination soar to new unparalleled heights. _I__ have __to __save __them!__ I __can__'__t __just __sit __here __and __do __nothing! _I quickly searched the room for anything that could help me save them. I called out towards Lance to find him holding Rayne in his arms, trying to wake her up.

"Lance! You have to help me find a machine! It's the only way we'll save Gary and Beedrill!" I called out.

"What's it look like?" He responded as he began to call out his pokemon to dig out the rubble in the room.

"It was that machine Lavender used on me when I was attacked with Acid!" I screamed out while desperately helping to dig through the rubble.

The pounding of my heartbeat consumed my entire mind as I continued to search for any signs of the machine, but after a few minutes of finding nothing but broken parts I felt my hope plummet. Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to dig through the debris some more, believing that I may have missed a spot or any sign of it.

"I found it!" Rayne called out to me.

I looked up in amazement as Rayne revealed the dirty and slightly dented machine beside her.

"Rayne! You woke up!" I screamed out in relief as I tried to drag Gary's and Beedrill's bodies to the machine by myself.

"She woke up just a little while ago and I quickly filled her in on the gist of the situation," Lance replied as he effortlessly picked up Gary and Beedrill and placed them on the machine.

"I should remember how to work this thing from before," She spoke as she began to toy with the machine.

"I know you will," I whispered as I grabbed Gary's hand and stared down at the two beside each other. "You have to."

The machine flashed in a variety of colors before it started working on Gary and Beedrill. Gradually, Gary's and Beedrill's wounds began to heal as the acid marks disappeared. Their skins began to regenerate themselves at a rapid pace and when it was finished they looked as if they were never in a physical battle in their entire lives. Although they were completely healed, there was still one problem.

"Why aren't they waking up?" I asked after standing beside the machine for several minutes. "Why aren't they responding? They are all healed! Why aren't they waking up?"

"Irina calm down…" Rayne began to speak.

"No!" I interrupted. "I want them back!"

I began to sob, "I didn't even get the chance to tell…."

"Tell… what?... Irina… please stop yelling…." Gary spoke weakly. "You are killing my ears."

I was frozen in shock as both Gary and Beedrill began to wake up. I snapped out of it and I quickly climbed up on the machine and jumped past Gary in order to tightly hug Beedrill.

"Beedrill, I love you!" I sobbed as I hugged my best friend in my arms. "I thought I lost you…."

"Hey!" Gary yelled out, pissed. "I am right here, you know! What about me? What about the concern for me?"

Beedrill threatened Gary with its twin needles while making a dangerous buzzing noise.

"No Beedrill," I replied. "I'll handle this one myself."

I raised my hand in the air and swiftly smacked the stubborn boy in the face. He stared at me wide-eyed with confusion filling up his entire expression.

"Concern for you? Concern for **you**? You tell me you aren't going to ever leave me and yet," I slapped him again, "you almost die in front of my very eyes! You tell me to shush when I was concerned for your very life and now you have the guts to stare at me and wonder why I am not showing concern for you now! I am very extremely absolutely undoubtedly pissed at you Gary Oak and I am not going to forgive you!"

He made a motion as if to argue with me, but I quickly silenced him by replying, "Don't you dare say a word! No matter how much you beg, cry, or even scream, I am not letting you get off of this one easy! You have to face the punishment, Gary Oak!"

He made another movement to say something, but yet again I kick in with, "Believe me, I am going to make sure you never have the guts to do another stupid thing ever again after you are through with the punishment I am giving you! And then I'll…."

He began to smooth his hair back using his fingers as he silently listened to every word I had to spill at him. Slowly, he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards him for a swift kiss. Once our lips touched, it was the end. The end of the problems of the world surrounding us, the incident that just happened, and even the world as we knew it. My whole body began to tingle with a warm sensation as that single kiss seemed to have overcome my senses and made me absolutely forget the hell I was going to give to him. Rayne immediately pulled us apart from each other.

"I don't recall giving my blessing for this yet!" Rayne declared.

"Rayne!" I snapped.

"He only kissed you so he'd get out of his punishment," Lance pointed out while laughing.

"No I didn't!" Gary argued. "I kissed her so she'd quit yelling at me!"

Rage overwhelmed me and I began to clobber this idiotic boy beside me. Beedrill joined in on the fury and began to poke Gary several times with its twin needles.

"Ow! Irina! I was joking! Ow! Irina! I'm sorry! I meant the kiss! I did! I swear! OW! OW! Irina! No… no NOT BEEDRILL! IRINA!" Gary screamed in protest at this physical violence.

When everything settled down and all that could be heard was everyone's laughter, I felt at peace for once. I had managed to go on this grand adventure by myself and not only rescue my sister, but find a few more interesting things along the way.

"Rayne, you were right," I spoke as I sat beside her watching the boys head into the airplane, ready to leave the area.

"About what?" She spoke sounding surprised.

"I don't want to follow Lance's footsteps anymore," I stood up slowly. "I'm going to travel with Gary and Beedrill and then I'm going to aim to rescue as many pokemon as I can from Team Rocket!"

"Isn't that the same as…" She began to speak.

"No, it isn't! My reason for rescuing pokemon now is because of all the evil I've experienced with Team Rocket! I am never going to let them forget what they did to my friends and my family!" I yelled.

"And your boyfriend," Rayne corrected.

"He isn't my boyfriend!"

"Oh, excuse me. I meant future husband," Rayne laughed.

"I'm trying to be serious here!" I whined, embarrassed.

She slowly stood up and bent down to face me eye-to-eye, "You follow your dreams, Irina, and no matter where it takes you, I'll be right here waiting for you. Alright? That sound good enough for you?"

I nodded in acceptance.

"I guess we'll split off once we return to town," Rayne announced as she walked towards the helicopter. "I have to return home to the Hoenn region and you need to stick with your boyfriend here."

"He is not my boyfriend… yet," I sighed. "Not until he fixes that attitude of his!"

The sun was setting on the day I decided to travel with Gary Oak and set my own grand adventure in the Johto region. Rayne decided to join up with Lance to destroy Team Rocket operations in the Kanto region. Although I do not know how I will grow up as a person or as a trainer during my adventures, I know that I will never be alone. Rayne once told me that I was never alone and she was right. I was never alone. I had found a will I had never known. A love that I had never experienced before. And a friendship. A friendship that was genuinely one of a kind with my first pokemon, Beedrill. Someday, I'll be able to tell Rayne the same quote.

_You are never alone._

* * *

**The End**

* * *

**Small Tidbits for the Whole Acid Story  
**

_Made by_: RGW

_Editor_: DarkPsychoRaven

_Source_: Bulbapedia, Pokemon Episodes, Pokemon HeartGold

_Sequel: _Toxic (Chapter 1 is already posted!)

_Inspiration: _Pokemon HeartGold! Late nights!


End file.
